LinkedIn Mastery and Video Marketing Secrets with Alex Sheridan

You can find Alex Sheridan at:
Website: https://impaxs.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexbsheridan/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@alex.b.sheridan

Alex Sheridan Podcast Transcription

[00:00:00] Kris Ward: Hey, everyone. Welcome to another episode of Win The Hour Win The Day, and I am your lucky host, Kris Ward, and I am super excited to welcome back to the show, Alex Sheridan.

[00:00:09] Listen, here’s the thing. Listen to the rest of the show, but right after that, you have to go online and you got to check Alex out. He is all about video content marketing. And he does it in such a dynamic and interesting way that I think personally he has single handedly breathed life into LinkedIn and made it, the landscape is changing dramatically. And I think he is a big part of that. Welcome to the show, Alex.

[00:00:37] Alex Sheridan: Thank you, Kris. I appreciate you having me on. Looking forward to the conversation. It definitely wasn’t just me, but I’ll get some credit for being one of the creators that helped make LinkedIn amazing.

[00:00:48] Kris Ward: You were preaching way back that this could be a more dynamic and interesting platform and your videos, boy oh boy, they do really have a high production value and they really are little episodes and TV shows and they’re, they’re out of the reach for most of us.

[00:01:02] But I do still think your message resonates with all entrepreneurs and small business owners. So we’re not going to have the setup that you have, but the philosophy behind it is very empowering. So you really are exceptional at the video content and simplifying it and breaking it down for us. And you guys, you have to check out his videos, but today let’s still stay in the lane of LinkedIn because there’s so much happening there.

[00:01:25] And it has been, as you say, a dry place for a while where you just went for a job. What do you, what are the big misnomers about LinkedIn or what are you still passionately trying to get the message out there about, “Hey, it’s a new day at LinkedIn and this is why we should be there.” What are we missing?

[00:01:42] Alex Sheridan: Yeah, it’s interesting because when I got on LinkedIn in 2019, I started with zero followers and I started a whole new page and had to build it up from scratch. And back then in 2019 and 2020, before COVID, I had to like really shift people’s perspective to get them to say, why would I go on LinkedIn as a business owner, as an entrepreneur to try to win customers and attract talent that doesn’t make it like it doesn’t make any sense.

[00:02:03] It’s a link. It’s a job board place. Like you go to post jobs, or if you’re a job seeker, you don’t want to reach out to people and maybe get your resume out there. And so it’s really changed. And I find myself today in 2023, it’s not explaining what LinkedIn is, but more how to now use it. So we’ve almost gotten past where a place where it’s unless you’re just not on social or you’ve never checked out LinkedIn, chances are most people are starting to see it at minimum as a place where business people come together.

[00:02:32] And I always compare it to a conference. It’s like this fun, engaging conference, but yet it’s still business people. So imagine going to one of the best conferences ever. There’s great speakers, you’re interacting on behind the scenes, you’re shaking hands, there’s an after party where you’re having, you’re dancing and having fun and celebrating stuff.

[00:02:49] That’s what LinkedIn is today. It’s the largest business community on planet Earth. Your customers are there. Your talent’s there. Your opportunity to speak in front of thousands of people every week for free is there. So it’s like, why wouldn’t you be on this platform knowing that this is the opportunity that lies in front of you?

[00:03:07] And then the second question is, okay, so if we know it’s a great opportunity, how do we go and execute? What’s the content? What’s the profile look like? What’s the social selling aspect? And that kind of leads you to the more of the strategy and execution side.

[00:03:20] Kris Ward: Okay. You brought up a really good point that I think sometimes I forget what I already know.

[00:03:24] I was like, Oh, I forgot. I knew that. And we were just so inundated with a next, it’s like a dog in the park squirrel, right? What’s next, something jotted by and you’re right. I know that LinkedIn is a business community, but you just simplify that so powerfully. It’s Oh, it’s the largest business community in the world where we hop on TikTok or YouTube.

[00:03:44] And we know it, we’re not dismissing it. They have their place, but you’re right. Everybody there is in business. And I think that’s a great reminder because sometimes too, I think I know you go there and you almost get over professional. So your content can be a little drier. Less dynamic because you think shoulders back, I’m supposed to be even more polished on this platform than somewhere else.

[00:04:07] And I think that is lightening up for sure. And you’re a big part of that. So then let’s tap into the social selling because the downside of it being such a large business community is sometimes you can feel like everyone you’re talking to that you want to engage or you want to network. It’s almost like the sellers are selling the sellers.

[00:04:24] And how do we not get caught up in that?

[00:04:28] Alex Sheridan: Yes. If you think about what are you trying to do when you show up to a place like LinkedIn, what are you trying to accomplish? And when you post content, when you engage in social selling practices, which we’re just talking about connecting with people, engaging with them, sending DMS, so it’s sales ish, but on a social media side, we’re trying to build trust, we’re trying to build trust and credibility and likability. And what’s funny is the mediums have changed, but the fundamentals have not. If we went back 50 years ago, 10 years ago, 5- 20 years ago, every leader that knew about sales and business would say, we probably should start building trust with our customers and potential customers.

[00:05:05] We probably should build credibility so that they know we, so that they know that we know what we’re talking about, right? So they feel comfortable investing in what we’re offering. We probably should get them to like us a little bit. Maybe let’s do a dinner with them. Let’s do a lunch. Let’s do a call with them, whatever it is.

[00:05:20] That hasn’t changed. It’s just the mediums now, our video and social media and LinkedIn and YouTube and TikTok. And you literally have the opportunity to build trust and credibility at scale like we never have before in the history of planet earth. And so it’s whether, you talked about social selling, why does social selling fail for 99 percent of people and companies?

[00:05:44] Because they’re not going out there trying to build trust and credibility and provide value to people. All they’re trying to do is ask, I want you to buy something. Will you give me time? Here’s my product and service. Here’s a Calendly link. Find a time. How about not?

[00:06:01] Kris Ward: Because I don’t know. What’s better for you Tuesday or Thursday. Thanks.

[00:06:05] Alex Sheridan: With two different dates and times. And now I’m going to have to say one, come on, people are smart. Buyers are smart. So you got to look at the way it’s not about you. It’s about how your buyer or customer buys in today’s day and age. What do we know about that? We know that customers are doing more research than they ever have before.

[00:06:25] They’re on social media, they’re consuming video content at a high level to be converted at the bottom of the funnel. They want to do their own research and study things and get advice and get feedback. And they want companies to be transparent and open and honest. Whether that’s with pricing or what they offer or how they offer it, whatever it is.

[00:06:44] So when I start reaching out to people, and a lot of my business comes inbound nowadays because I’ve done a decent job of building a brand and putting out a lot of video and getting people to know who I am and to be able to trust and, like me and find me credible. But if you’re outreaching, you want to flip it and say, not what they can do for me, but what can I do for them?

[00:07:03] And how can I instill more trust in me as the right person to potentially work with? So you’re connecting, you’re engaging with someone on their content. Let’s say you’re going to send them a connection request. You’re personalizing it now. Hey, I like the post that you did on X, Y, and Z, or hey, I noticed that, you’re from this area.

[00:07:18] I was just out there last month. It’s a beautiful town, something in there in the beginning to grab their attention and hook them in, and then you’re going to share with them something that you think would genuinely help them, whether they worked with you or not. So if I was talking to you, Kris, and let’s say you’re a CMO or, chief marketing officer, or maybe an executive, whatever it might be at a company that I’m trying to reach out to, I might say, Hey, I, once I get past that first hook part, I might say something like, I’ve been talking to probably 50 CMOs over the last, six months.

[00:07:47] And it seems like every single one of them right now is really struggling with where do we invest our money in social media? It’s you got TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, ads, you got all this different stuff. And it’s sometimes there’s so much out there that you’re not sure what’s a waste of time and what’s a highly ROI avenue that we could go down.

[00:08:05] So what I did after talking to 50, 50 CMOs is I compiled the most valuable insights on what channels are working for what industries, what are not, what are a waste of time and what are highly ROI positive and driving results. I’d love to share that with you. No strings attached. Happy to share with you. At minimum, you’ll walk away with a lot of value.

[00:08:26] Kris Ward: Okay. Let me jump in here. Cause I want…

[00:08:28] Alex Sheridan: a lot there. Yeah. There’s a lot there.

[00:08:29] Kris Ward: It’s so good. Okay. I think sometimes I often compare everybody wants to lose five pounds at some point. So I often compare this to fitness. And so it’s really getting your reps in and you going back to the basics instead of buying a bunch of equipment.

[00:08:43] I often say to somebody, “Hey, can you do pushups until you can do that? Don’t worry about the equipment.” So you brought us back to the fundamentals of saying, look, it’s all about trust. It doesn’t matter if it’s the purple platform tomorrow, whatever happens at the end of the day, we have to be reminded of the basics and the fundamentals.

[00:09:00] We’re trying to establish trust. And I know as what I call myself a recovering rushaholic, you can get seduced with hopping on the platform. Okay. I’ve got work to do. Is this enough? Have I been on here enough? Blah, blah, blah, blah, where we need to slow it down and understand and remind. So help me we should all have tattoos.

[00:09:18] I think there should be some sort of, I don’t know when you get, when they give you your, when you start being an entrepreneur, there should be some sort of ritual where you have to say, I understand social media is about the social, right? Cause you forget, or I do anyhow.

[00:09:31] So then we go back to making the connections. Love it. Now, when we’re personalizing the connection, I 100 percent believe in that. I can’t, I’m shocked every time somebody doesn’t do it and they just send me a connection. I’m like why? You know what? Even if you said, “Hey, whatever, something generic and weak, like we’re like minded, let’s connect, whatever.”

[00:09:49] Make the effort. When you now say you reach out, you put some things into that conversation, you’re DMing them a few times, “Hey, I noticed you did this.” And also the comment. So if I want to be more we know it’s very helpful to engage and not just like their stuff, but to be purposeful in the comments.

[00:10:08] Are you now saying if I was going to do that also maybe take that comment and have it more meaty in the DM? Oh, I really agree with you on this point. Chime into the post and then extend that conversation in the DM.

[00:10:20] Alex Sheridan: Yeah, definitely. That’s one great way to start. So I would say I got the core four strategy.

[00:10:26] So it’s search, engage, connect, message. So in a perfect world, right? You don’t have to do this every time, but in a perfect world, you’re searching for your ideal customers. Sales navigators, a great place to do that because you can drill down by if they’ve posted on LinkedIn in the last 30 days, job titles, you can even search by company revenue.

[00:10:44] The amount of revenue a company is doing, the amount of head count, the amount of head count growth they’ve had. There’s all sorts of different tools and filters you can use in sales navigator. Once you search for the people you want to start engaging right now, you could go right to connection, right?

[00:10:56] So you could skip that and go right to connection. But if you want to increase your chances of them responding to you, you’d engage with their content first, just start building that little mini lead list and do five or 10 a day. It doesn’t take very long. Once you engage with their content, then you go and send a connection request in the connection request.

[00:11:10] You would mention, “Hey, I saw, I just saw your post on X, Y, and Z really loved your take on this.” And this would love to connect something very simple, but it lets them know that you’ve showed up as a supporter as someone that’s adding value versus someone that’s trying to take. And then what you do from there is then you send that direct message and video converts the best.

[00:11:27] In my opinion, from what we’ve seen, audio works really well too. Text is by last because everyone sends text. So there’s not much of a difference. And so then in the DM, yeah, then you would mention again, the post and then you’d get into your spiel.

[00:11:41] Kris Ward: Yeah. I send people an audio and it does, I’ve upgraded a little bit from hanging out with you to video, but the audio it’s.

[00:11:48] It’s a game changer because people hear the tone of your voice and your sincerity. Or I always give this example of, I was talking with this guy on Facebook for a year, business sort of connection. We’re going back and forth. He’s commenting. And then we actually get on a zoom and all of a sudden he is the thickest.

[00:12:04] I could barely understand him. Irish accent. I’m like, ah, that I don’t know you at all. You know what I mean? Like I have, I thought I knew you and I had this vision of our relationship the last year, and it was completely upside down. Cause if I don’t know even how he sounds.

[00:12:19] Alex Sheridan: It’s a great point. And if it’s always goes back to why I say video is so important. Cause if you think about, I have a lot of CEOs and owners say, why should we do video content? That doesn’t make any sense. Like how’s that going to drive business? And I’m like, okay, let me take a step back here. Let’s pretend that you and everyone that could influence the decision for your company could get in front of potential customers.

[00:12:38] Let’s say your sales team, your executives, whoever has the best knowledge on your product or service. Let’s say they could get in front of 100 decision makers that would be interested and qualified to buy your product or service. Would you say yes or no, that would give you a better chance if you were in person with them versus trying to reach out via email or phone call and they would all nod their head and go, absolutely.

[00:12:59] If we got in front of a hundred prospects, we would close almost all of those, or at least over half. And I say, that’s exactly what video is. It’s the closest thing that you got to be an in person with somebody, except it scales. You can do it for thousands instead of just 1, 2, 3, 4. So a lot of people are going to conferences and trade shows, and that’s great.

[00:13:21] But why would you not do video where you can virtually, almost in person, closest thing to it, show up in front of people every single day. That’s why video converts. And if you look at the stats, video content there’s a couple stats. I think it was Forbes that did an article about it, but it was like people retain 1, 200%

[00:13:42] more information from a video than they did text and picture combined. Yeah. Insane. Like it’s your ability to connect with someone on an emotional level and actually for them to get to know you, you just can’t do that without doing video.

[00:13:57] Kris Ward: A hundred percent. And you know what, when I’m doing like an email introduction to somebody let’s say I’m connecting somebody to be on another podcast or doing any kind of thing.

[00:14:03] I always do it on video and people act like I went to the store and bought them a gift instead of just cc’ing somebody in saying, okay, Alex, you should meet so and then I type something up. Hey, by the way, it takes longer and they have to read it and proofread it. What did I say? And whatever.

[00:14:17] So I just do a video. Oh, you’re going to love Alex. He’s blah, blah, blah. And Alex, I want you to meet so and and then people are like, oh, it’s such a treat to get your videos, Kris, because they just feel like I crafted this thing for them instead of just copy and paste. So I think it impacts everything on all levels.

[00:14:33] So two quick questions. When we are social selling and using your core for search, engage, connect, message. Do we want to be engaging, leave it a day or two and then ask for a connection? Or am I overthinking that? Yeah. Okay. I’m a systems person. I get stuck on that a lot. I tell people, they’re like, Oh, you’re so organized.

[00:14:55] That does not help you because then you over organize things. Okay. And then when we say, “Hey, look, I have this thing. I’ve been working with 50 entrepreneurs or whatever the last, whatever.” We’re going to ask them for permission. And are we then sending them a PDF? We’re not trying to get them on a zoom call. We’re trying to give them content.

[00:15:13] Alex Sheridan: That’s what your content for is in the feed. I would personally, at that point, what I’ve done and what we’ve trained teams to do is to make an ask, but make it a subtle, I’d love to share this with you. If you got 15, 20 minutes over the next couple of weeks, let me know if you’d be up for a brief chat. Either way. Great to be connected with you. Hope you have a great day.

[00:15:29] Kris Ward: There’s okay. So here’s my pushback on that. I feel, are we not then just delaying the, Oh, you want something? You want something? Ah, there it is. Do you know what I mean? Somebody else who doesn’t do it as well, does it sooner?

[00:15:45] Or are you saying we’re going to build up the trust thing for, maybe a couple of weeks. I guess I feel like at the end of the day, it’s gotcha. You knew I was coming for something. That’s my concern there.

[00:15:54] Alex Sheridan: There’s nobody’s going to send you a message just for no reason, right? So once you’re, if you’re sending a message or talking to someone at a conference, like there’s a reason there, we don’t have to hide from that. The question is your approach is your when you meet someone at a conference, Hey, my name is Alex. We do video content training. Do you guys currently do video content right now?

[00:16:12] Would you love to have a demo for us? No. Or do I say nice. I saw you’re on LinkedIn. How’s that going? Hey, there’s a couple of things I saw on your profile that you might build a tweak that would actually probably convert more customers. I’d love to show you. Let me show you real quick.

[00:16:23] Awesome. Let’s do it. I’m still doing sales. Like I’m still trying to convert, right? But it’s my, it’s the way I do it. Just like when you have a booth at a conference or a trade show, you can be ultra salesy and turn people off. Or you can say, Hey, have you ever seen did you know you can start a YouTube channel in 30 days?

[00:16:38] You could drive revenue from it. Or do you know, you could start a podcast and do that. Or if you set up your LinkedIn profile in a certain way, you can actually find your customers faster and connect with them. Let me show you something real quick. Now you’re providing value. Now, whether they work with you or not, they’re going to go, Hey, that table over there is awesome.

[00:16:52] You should go check them out. They just showed me something. I’ve never seen this before. And when they’re going to go to buy, they’re going to come to you, but at minimum, they’re going to refer people your way. So that’s what I’m saying, Kris. Yeah. Are we getting to the end result? Yes. But the way we get there does matter, right?

[00:17:06] The same, if I go right for that, will you marry me? Versus let me take you out on a date. Let’s have some fun, get to know each other. That’s a different, that’s a different journey.

[00:17:15] Kris Ward: And I think we’ve just all been so inundated with the wrong way to do it that we can’t see straight anymore.

[00:17:20] What you say just makes utter sense and how foolish it’s really, I, there are new stupid questions, but I did hear once there are stupid people who ask questions, but I was like that changes everything. So in one hand, I think, Oh, that was a silly question, but we’ve just been so defensive, especially on LinkedIn, right?

[00:17:39] Cause it’s it’s just been done so poorly for so long that your guard goes up. Oh, he’s just teaching us another way to charm the snake and whatever, gotcha. But you’re right. It’s everything. Everything in life is sales. Getting your kids to bed at night, it’s sales. Everything is sales. It’s how you do it that decreases the battle or the engagement or the trust.

[00:17:58] Alex Sheridan: And Kris, one thing on that too, is like, why do I put out video content for my company? Am I doing it just to like randomly help people? I do love making an impact. I do love, genuinely love helping other people, but I assure you, I’m not doing this for my hobby.

[00:18:12] Like I’m trying to win business and build a brand and become elite, right? I’m trying to grow the business. That’s why I’m here on social media. So it’s I’m not going to hide from that, but the way I go about it. So I always say you got selfish goals. But the way you go about accomplishing them is selfless, right?

[00:18:31] I want business. I want business that self, but that’s good. Everyone wants their own thing has their own goals. I want to take care of my family. I want to do fun stuff. Cool. But the way I go about it now is I say, let me be selfless to go get it. Let me go give, let me go provide value. Let me not ask right away.

[00:18:47] Let me try to provide so much to my audience that they want to work with me, that they’re excited to reach out and book a call with me because they feel like they like, know, and trust me. So it’s the approach that matters. It’s a journey. And I would say it’s not about people are thinking it’s good to think about the customer experience, when your customer gets onboarded, what kind of experience do you give them? That’s great. But most people aren’t thinking about what is the experience that you’re giving that customer before they buy from you. And that’s on social media and through engagement and the brand that you’re building in the the value that you provide before they even become a customer.

[00:19:23] Kris Ward: You just talk away. I’m just here nodding. Yeah. Yeah. I’ve taken notes and nodding because I, I’m a big fan. I’ve been following you for a while and we don’t have a lot of people come back on the show because we just have a waiting list and stuff, but you just do it in such a refreshing manner. And then I think you also cover the basics, get the reps in, remind us of the basic principles where we get, we do, we get lost because it’s always just run.

[00:19:50] The new thing is, but, and of course, and then with those basics, you allow us to put things that we do put no input in place to be really efficient. Now, I always struggle with this a little bit. For those of us in my case, and I’ve been attacking this, I think in a improved fashion lately, but a lot of my clients, they look good on paper, and the whole thing is that they have a business, they’re doing well in theory, they look good on paper, they’re just putting in way too many hours for where they are at this point in their journey.

[00:20:20] It comes into three things, your team, the time, the toolkits, we call it, right? So they either don’t have effective systems and processes, or they’re just the old school corporate, which are clunky and usually confused training, or they have a team, but it’s very parentified because you’re using the corporate world philosophy instead of actually having a team.

[00:20:38] And cause I’m against delegating that still comes through you, blah, blah, blah, instead of assigning work. So some of us have that. Where it’s my, it’s a little bit more invisible or perhaps your service you offer is a little bit more complicated instead of giving five tips to, hey, here’s how to improve your video.

[00:20:54] I can see it online and here I’ll tell you whatever, right? So do we just need to be working in the trusting stage more or maybe we need a few gifts before we ask gifts, whatever PDFs opt in, like where it’s easy to get lost in that. You do you understand the question is I ramble on affectionately here.

[00:21:12] Alex Sheridan: I think so. I think one of the most challenging parts about that whole offer up insights, in the DM, I think is what you’re getting that what do we, how do we open it up if we don’t have something that’s more like visible to offer. And I think that’s where a lot of companies I’m learning as I’m training companies, that a lot of them, you have to shift your mentality.

[00:21:30] In terms of how you think about your business and are you understanding the insights that are happening in the industry? Are you thinking about next level type of stuff? Where’s the industry going? Where are we at now? What are the things that I’m learning as I’m going through processing this whole thing and working with customers.

[00:21:45] And I think for me, it’s very simple because I create a lot of content. So I’m forced to think about insights all the time. So it’s interesting when you’ve got someone that’s not creating any content, they’re literally just not thinking about it. It’s yeah, you’re right. What are some of the things that I know that my customers don’t that would be valuable for them?

[00:22:01] So that’s why I think doing this and going through this process, social selling, creating content, makes you a better entrepreneur, business owner, salesperson, marketer, because what you’re forced to do is understand the customer at a very deep level. Their fears or insecurities or challenges or desires or pain points and then your ability to communicate to them in a non salesy way, but in a way that grabs our attention and gets them to want to listen.

[00:22:25] That’s it. And I described it like this. If you had to go give a 45 minute keynote to a bunch of 200 prospects in the room, and you couldn’t talk about your product or service, right? Because that’s not what a keynote is. What would you talk about? All right. So it’s if you got that, then you got to find a way to formulate a little bit of that into your into your content for sure, but then into your DMs and your engagements and you got to find a way to not about you, but about what are some of the things that I would say that an audience would show up to and listen to, right?

[00:22:55] If you’re an expert in your space. You got stuff, right? People are inviting you on podcasts or you’re speaking at events or conferences or round tables or whatever it is, that’s the stuff. That’s the material.

[00:23:06] Kris Ward: And I know I always say, yeah, I think it’s such a rookie thing to say oh, my business is different. And I totally get that. And, but it’s so easy to always look at somebody and say, oh he can give SEO tips in 30 seconds. That’s a quick hit. And you can show that where. Your somebody else’s service is a little bit more complicated. So there’s always a reason I’m too tall. My hair’s too Brown, too old, too young.

[00:23:24] No one’s listening kind of deal. So there’s never an, there’s a long list of excuses why something isn’t working, but a great reminder, if you think that’s the issue, and I say that all the time too, like to anything you’re going to do, you have to do it poorly and the more you put out there. It’s like marketing.

[00:23:41] It’s you don’t figure that out in your office. The more you put out there, the more that misses or the odd thing that hits. And you’re like, okay, they’re not getting that, or they’re calling it this, I’m labeling it a, and they’re labeling it B. So again, some really powerful fundamentals, which is that’s why you’re here. Cause you make it simple and refreshing and hopeful.

[00:24:00] Alex Sheridan: Yeah. In reality is like we started training companies in all different industries, healthcare, software, logistics, and it works across the board. The question is how good are your, how good is your hook and your opening when you’re, coming out, whether that’s content or social selling and then how good are your insights?

[00:24:15] Are they really valuable? So there’s a ton of different ways to do it, but yeah, that’s where you got to challenge yourself and say, Hey, I’m not going to get stuck in this. Ah, my business is different. I’m going to find a way here. Because there’s something to this, if there wasn’t something to this, then no one would ever do keynote speakers ever because there’s no value, but why would, there’s no value.

[00:24:33] Why would someone show up to listen, but people do listen, people do show up to conferences and listen to speakers. Why? Because they have value that they’ve extracted from being in the industry and learning things and helping other customers. They have a vantage point that you don’t have. Cause you’re not doing it every day.

[00:24:49] You don’t get to see how this all works, Kris. Like I do, cause I’m freaking in it, but I don’t get to see how your stuff works every day because I’m not in it. So you’d share some things with me and I go, shit, I never thought about that. You’d blow my mind. And then I’d share some stuff with you and you go freaking mind blown.

[00:25:02] So that’s how you got, what are those mind blown things? What are those unlock moments that you can share with your customers or potential customers and share it in the feed publicly, like a note and then share it behind doors, like you’re at the conference shaking one on ones and in the LinkedIn DMS.

[00:25:18] Kris Ward: And you’re so right. It’s such a great reminder because, when I’m dealing with my clients in the Winners Circle and sometimes you’re stepping over knowledge that you have, because you have the curse of knowledge and you’re like, Oh, I’m trying to teach them C. And they’re like, Hey, I don’t even understand A. Oh, didn’t know that was content.

[00:25:32] So now we create a unit on that. And so again, a great reminder is well, the more people we talk to, the more we lean into LinkedIn or whatever the platform, but do the social selling and make meaningful connections, the more information that we’re going to have, which is why the biggest, most lucrative companies in the world, software companies, they put out not flawed products, but they know it doesn’t work.

[00:25:54] They let you know that you either get it free or a discount and then they gather all that information. So really social selling is one thing, but you’re getting information that is just going to leverage everything you do. Oh my gosh. Okay. We could talk to you.

[00:26:11] We, maybe it’s thursdays with Todd. Sorry Alex, Thursdays with Alex. Yeah, so we could talk to you all day, Alex. Alex, you’ve got an amazing podcast yourself. You’re all over the platforms doing just really dinah. You stopped the scroll. There’s just no way around it. That’s just it. So where else can we find more of your brilliance?

[00:26:33] Alex Sheridan: And I just want to say really quickly on that, Kris because I think sometimes people do think I’ve got some elaborate setup, but the reality is I’m making most of my videos on a smartphone with a wireless mic. So it’s you don’t need anything.

[00:26:45] Don’t look at certain videos and be like, Oh, my gosh, they got some crazy setup that they’ve learned over. If anyone wants my equipment list with all the links, I have it. If you sign up my newsletter, you get an email to that. So that’s in my LinkedIn featured content section. So go snatch that up if you’re curious, but honestly, you can’t let…

[00:27:02] Kris Ward: you do fancy post production. And I think people get overwhelmed by the thing with that sometimes.

[00:27:08] Alex Sheridan: And I would say a lot of times I add cool graphics and animations, but like today I posted the TikTok video earlier, that’s doing well already. And I just edited it in that LinkedIn app and added auto captions. And so it’s like I do skit videos and those don’t typically have a lot of elaborate videos. It’s like me talking back and forth to myself…

[00:27:24] Kris Ward: but your humor you do have, I don’t want to discourage other people, but your humor is crazy there. They’re funny. They’re entertaining, which is, it’s hard for some of us. We get out of our own way and we get in our own way trying to figure out how to make this funny.

[00:27:40] And it’s a whole, it’s a whole different vibe to be humorous or chatty and do all that stuff. But then try to make a funny video is a completely different skill set.

[00:27:49] Alex Sheridan: Yeah. And it’s, and on that, it’s if you go back and look at my first, 10, videos, they were nowhere near to what I’m doing today.

[00:27:56] So it’s I learned, you learn how to refine your message, how to add in different things and the humor and whatnot, and everyone has their own unique personality. You were finding along the way. But on the editing side, like it’s honestly, Kris, as easy as now you can work with a company like us.

[00:28:10] We supply video editors, but at minimum you could use things like Upwork and Fiverr and outsource job boards. And you can find someone very affordable that does a couple of videos for you a week. And it wouldn’t break the bank.

[00:28:21] Kris Ward: No, we know all about outsourcing. We’re passionate about it.

[00:28:24] Alex Sheridan: For sure. Like I’m not editing my own people. I was like, what do you use for your graphics and animation? I’m like, do you think I’m editing my videos? Do you think I could put out that many videos and edit all of them? No way. I don’t edit any of them. Unless it’s a simple thing I’m just doing in the app or something, but I’m not, yeah. So I think knowing what your strength, where your strengths are, and then outsourcing or what you need to outsource or automate.

[00:28:44] Kris Ward: And to that note, I do want to add, we we’ve got a new social media manager and I’m all about outsourcing and really talented people for five, six dollars an hour. And so I was telling a story really about how I was typing email. All of a sudden I remembered, Oh my gosh, the egg. I had put an egg on.

[00:29:00] This was years ago. My business was new. I was just like going to boil some eggs, have a snack. And an hour later I remembered. And in the video I was gesturing in the kitchen going, Oh my gosh. And then the egg. And she just made this cartoon egg come out of my hand, go flying across it. I guess she’s watching your stuff.

[00:29:15] And that changed the whole video. I was like, Oh my God, I would have never thought. I would have never thought of that. I would have been like, cause I was there, I was focused on the fact that I damn near burned the house down because the pot had smoldered through and it was dangerous. So I wouldn’t have seen the humorous egg part, like that would, wasn’t in my, not within my vision or skill set.

[00:29:33] Alex Sheridan: Yeah. Yeah. That’s why surround creative partners is good. Yes. Honest to gosh.

[00:29:37] Kris Ward: Okay. All right. Where should they check you out first? Alex?

[00:29:41] Alex Sheridan: So definitely go to LinkedIn. And when you go to LinkedIn and you go on my profile and you go to that featured content section, by the way, fill that out if you’re on LinkedIn, cause it’s one of the most colorful places and it really gives people a path to conversion, but you’ll see my YouTube channels on there.

[00:29:57] So if you want to go further and go in depth on some of the strategies, we’ve got a lot of long form content where I dive into all these topics in depth. And then you’ll also see that snatch my video equipment there, where you can get a list of all the video equipment. I use the links to get it on Amazon, all that stuff’s there.

[00:30:13] Kris Ward: Oh my gosh. We’re so lucky to have you. We’re so lucky you came back. Thank you for, oh my God your wisdom, your energy, and just keeping us motivated and inspired because business, I always say should be fun. And I think you really do add that to it. Like you really bring that to the game.

[00:30:28] Alex Sheridan: It’s my pleasure to be here and I appreciate you having me back, Kris.

[00:30:31] Kris Ward: Thanks. Thank you. Thank you so much, Alex. Thanks.