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Audio digitally transcribed by Descript

Introduction: [00:00:00] Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns: [00:00:10] So if you're shocked about the time it's daylight savings and Arizona does not participate in daylight savings. So we are now Pacific Standard Time. So set your clocks, set your schedules, adjust your time for the #PirateBroadcast™. And today we have an amazing guest I'm excited to talk about because she is doing digital media, email marketing, and setting up their clients, email strategies, and helping along the way, because that's so important these days. Good morning, Susan, how are you? Welcome to being a pirate now.

Susan Finn: [00:00:47] Good morning, Russ. Thank you so much. Not my first go round on a pirate show though. I have to say, I have a friend out here. Who's that's his thing like that is what they do for fun is they re-enact pirate stuff, not the same as your pirate videos, but it's an interesting subset, I think.

Russ Johns: [00:01:07] Yeah. I think there are a lot of pirates out there that just haven't been on the show yet. So we'll have to connect and collaborate on another pirate activity.

Susan Finn: [00:01:18] Yeah, honestly, starting Monday off with #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree, there can't be a better way to start a week then with this. So I'm appreciative of the whole thing and your message and how you're sharing all of that with the world, especially now.

Russ Johns: [00:01:34] Yeah. It's really important for people to understand that there are people out there that care, a little bit of #gratitude goes a long way. And some of the things that we talk about on the #PirateBroadcast™ are so important and so critical to our future because what are you doing? Online or in person or, any mix of business. We all need to make a collection of people that we care about relationships we can build and a little bit of #inspiration, help each other out, inspire each other instead of being so competitive. We have an opportunity to help each other out and let's make it happen. So I want to talk to you because I've been a passionate digital marketer for years. I've been in and out of email. I used to do a lot of email. I started back in the Hotmail days and getting things going. And I've I've always been fascinated by the process. So tell us a little bit about what you're doing right now, Susan. Others can get inspired about the process and how you go about helping others.

Susan Finn: [00:02:42] So there's so much I want to bring to here. I'm trying to, all the things came into my head. So I'm going to choose which one to start with and I'm going to come back to kindness. Couple of weeks ago was be likable day. Do you follow Dave Kerpen and be likable? He's got the whole be likable motion movement going. Oh yeah. If you're not following already, follow him.  Every year, he has a be likable and it's hashtag #belikable in your sharing. And I went into one of his clubhouse rooms and they were talking about different ways that you could be kind to others. Send notes, all the things. And I was honored to be called up to speak cause I don't usually, but at that moment it really hit me that the people that I work with for the most part, I work with heart-centered entrepreneurs. They're service-based for the most part, I work with energy healers, lightworkers, coaches, creatives, and what I have found with the people that I've chosen to spend my days with and to serve is that they can be aggressively humble and often don't feel comfortable putting their gifts on the digital platforms. Right here, work with me for this, or here's what I do. And, oh my gosh, this was wonderful. So they're aggressively humble. It's hard for them to share. And often when they're doing the things right, making their posts, creating their emails, doing their websites, they forget to be kind to themselves and they forget to realize how much they actually get done. So in the Rise of Noise system, I give them a roadmap.  There's five pillars and you'll be familiar with them, right? It's like knowing your mission, who your ideal client is. The second one is how are you going to create compelling content that speaks to the mission and your client? The third is collecting testimonials, sharing proof of concept, case studies. The fourth one is organizing so that you're not throwing spaghetti at the wall all the time, and you're not working a hundred hours. Be strategic, spend your time  with purpose. And then the fifth pillar and rise above noise is keep in touch. So all of those really are to keep in touch. And so when you give them a roadmap and you figure out where everything is and you give them a strategy, that way they can be kind to themselves. They don't have to feel like they have to do all of the things all of the time. They can follow a plan, know what they're doing and understand here's the real crux of it all is to understand that marketing is just a vehicle and that somebody woke up in the middle of the night last night and didn't know what to do. They had a problem. And they didn't know how to solve it. And again, the people that I'm working with, there's parent coaches, life coaches, health coaches people who are like I said, energy healers. So they're making real differences in shifting the energy in the world. And so if they're not showing up for that person who woke up in the middle of the night and had a problem and didn't know who to ask. Then they're actually not being kind to that person. And so I do offer that as a mindset shift that marketing, if you shift your mindset to marketing is an act of kindness. Marketing is an act of service, then I think it's easier to show up and that your emails are not selling. You don't have to worry about selling, but they're kind because somebody is going to open up their email and you're just going to be the angel in the inbox.

Russ Johns: [00:06:27] I love that angel in the inbox. I think it's really important for people to understand that when they are heart-centered and their intentions are really to assist and support others, that it's a welcome message. And I know that there's so many, there's the adage that eventually marketers will ruin everything. Cause they have a tendency to take it to the extreme at times, some of the people get aggressively aggressive. Just period, aggressive. And so we have to be conscious about how we're putting our message out and what the intent is. And I think that comes through even an email. And it's really important for us to maintain that connection, that continuity between messages and what we're saying and what we're doing and what we're delivering is all in alignment. Wouldn't you agree.

Susan Finn: [00:07:27] So true. A thousand percent, and I have to tell you that of all the discovery calls that I've had with the people that I've just described to you. I would say 90% of them start off with, I don't want to do email. I hate getting emails. It feels spammy to me. And I get it. The idea is A, you're probably not your own client and B, people have an option to unsubscribe if they don't like it and C, let's create content that people will love. If they're aligned with you, then every time you sit down and write a love letter, you're not writing to write an email. You're not writing a sales letter. You're writing a love letter about what that person woke up with in the middle of the night and how can you set that person's mind at ease.

Russ Johns: [00:08:19] Yeah. I love that reminder. I want to dive in a little bit more because sales and marketing. They help each other out. However, I think it's really important for understanding, and it's a struggle for so many and I've had this struggle as well. It's I don't want to come across as being salesy and the reality is I love, the kindness, give the kindness away. Who am I to say that I shouldn't help? Someone out there needs my help, someone out there could use what I have, what my experience that I've learned, the understanding that I have about the technology, what it is that I'm doing? And there's a lot of people that could be doing the same thing for them. Maybe we have a connection somehow. Maybe they have a connection with Susan, and who am I to decide what they need. You know it, and if I don't put anything out there, if I don't share what is important, then I'm removing that option from their life.

Susan Finn: [00:09:22] That's right. That's right. And sometimes people will say to me, yeah, but how much, in particular I help people create their welcome sequences. So when you sign up for something, A freebie and then you get the freebie. What comes after that? To let people know more about you basically to invite them into your home and show them around and who you got around you, all the things, but in doing so. People have said to me, but I don't want to give it all away. If I give it all away, they won't have to hire me. And that's another mindset shift because there's nothing we can't find on Google. You can find all the things on Google, but if somebody is struggling, they need to hear it from you. And also because I work with the people that I've talked about, the coaches, nobody really hires. A coach or an energy healer, even a creative without having had some personal experience with them, hearing them speak on a podcast, reading their writing, consuming their blogs, whatever it is so that nobody just searches on Google and then buys $2,000 worth of coaching product. Like you have to be warmed up, they have to know more about you and it's the person providing the solution that people are looking for, not just the solution, because you can find that anywhere.

Russ Johns: [00:10:43] It's amazing what we can learn online. And I think what someone like yourself or someone like myself in our products and services, in our offering is the experience that we held and the hope that we hold. And we've had that. It's an acceleration process. It's not that anybody can't learn this, it's that some people are better suited to do what they do best and help with, finding the person that can help them accelerate that. Additional tasks that need to be done, build a team, build a site sequence. And I had a great coach tell me recently, one of my coaches that I use is she was saying, cause I used to say the #PirateBroadcast™ is that experiment, so I could figure out what to do with the #PirateSyndicate™. And the reality is that after almost 400 episodes, it's not an experiment. It's an experience. And the experience that you had getting on the #PirateBroadcast™ is exactly the experience that I deliver to my client, my clients, and on the #PirateSyndicate™ and delivering, show up for the mic and that's all you have to do is show up to the mic and everything else is  done for you. And to remove that burden from your task list is a huge benefit, much like you're doing with email and the messaging. What do you say, how do you stay engaged with your audience? How do you stay engaged in your community? How are we showing up? Those are all absolutely critical elements that we need to think about and consider. And when you're struggling with that, you need to talk to someone like Susan. So you can actually get your message out there and with clarity,

Susan Finn: [00:12:28] It's both things too. So for what you just made me think of is right. The process of getting onto the show we hadn't met before this. So I had experience first with your processes. And then with you and through the processes, right? So that's that whole client nurturing or the personally relationship nurturing part of what happened here. I was like, oh, okay, cool. And then I got a text and then I got a reminder and then I got a, don't forget. And here's your stream yard. And I knew exactly what to do. I was a little confused with the time. I didn't want to mess up the time cause I'm on the East coast and you're using Pacific now. But you sent a note this morning, don't forget this time . And so it's the technical and it's the saving of the time, right? Like you saved me a lot of time, not having to find out and figure out all the things. So that's what I do with my clients is I help them figure out their TAC, whatever platform they happen to be on, help them streamline what they're going to say and then they don't even have to worry about it. It's just ready to go. We review it and it's ready to go. There are some that prefer to do it on their own, so I will guide them through what it is because now they can make another nurture sequence or they can do their own email if they want to, or they can do a re-engagement sequence. But for the most part, when somebody engages me to create their nurture, their welcome email sequence. I'm getting them all set up. They get the tutorials and they can feel calm. They can feel like, all right, I got this. And if I don't, Susan's still over there.

Russ Johns: [00:14:00] It's progress. People always want to feel like they're making progress. They're making a difference, go out, let's go out and #makeitmatter. And I was thinking about this morning on how happiness comes from the inside. And not necessarily from the things that we collect, right? Sometimes the things we collect are not necessarily, sometimes they become the burden that we carry. We have to think about what's coming from the inside. And the reality is that we all have a message and a gift. And I believe that everybody has an opportunity to share that gift and message and the best. Exercise we can go through is identifying who we can help, how we can help them and then connect with those individuals and start helping. And it's really, that's the essence of #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. It's like, how can I help people? How can I improve the world around me? How can I lift people up to where I can continue to experience joy in my world. I love helping people. So it's really important for me to understand what that looks like and how I can continue to improve on that and highlighting people like yourself, Susan, it's so important for me to do that and benefit because through surrounding the light on you. You get to be seen, be heard and be talked about, and then, hopefully you can help someone else along the road as well. Somebody that you hadn't met before. So it's so important. I want to give a shout out to a couple of people in the room. Hiett Ives from Houston. Forgot you don't use DST. Can I find you an hour ago? Jeff Young says live heart-centered, entrepreneur aggressively. Humble. I love those two phrases. Good morning, Russ.  I love you. Thank you so much, Jeff. Good morning from Russ Hedge. A man says be strategic beyond purpose. You don't have to do everything all the time. Follow a plan. This is so beautiful, Susan. Thank you, Russ Johns, you both are amazing. And Cathi Spooner says, good morning, pirates. And Ahmad says great info to learn from you, Susan Barron Finn. Thank you so much.

Susan Finn: [00:16:20] Nice to be here. That's nice.

Russ Johns: [00:16:23] That's so kind. It's really wonderful to have some feedback like this. And and so what are some other programs? You have a program coming up?

Susan Finn: [00:16:33] I do, thanks for asking. Yeah. So as I mentioned, I helped people with their welcome email series or if they even just want to get set up on regular emails and figure out the whole, how do I get a sign up form? What's a lead generator? How do I have a list growth strategy? And again, with the people that I work with, many of them are solo preneurs, and they want to learn how to do it versus having somebody do it for them. And so I have a course coming up. The sign up is open now and the cart will close on Saturday. The 19th, the 20th, whatever Saturday is, the cart closes. And it is for those people who want to do their own welcome email series. I have a core set up, or there's a course and a group program where we go step by step, it's six modules. They drop one a week so that you spend an hour or two a week. And at the end of the six weeks you have created your own lead generator signup form and six part welcome sequence. I mostly use the Donald Miller five part sequence that he talks about, which is very specific scripted. If you have any trouble with copywriting, this makes it super easy. If you have trouble with any of the tech, I'm there to help. And I'm giving very specific tutorials based upon what people are using. Coaches console, Active Campaign, Constant Contact, MailChimp, a lot of people you seem to use MailChimp as well, so yeah. And then giving them the strategy. Okay, now that you have this and you're welcoming and you're nurturing and no, never worry about people unsubscribing, it's fine. It's great. If they don't align with your message now, how do you keep it going? And how do you make it feel? Like how do you make it feel like brushing your teeth? Like you just do your marketing and you don't get sucked up into that time vortex that is social media. It's easy to think you're doing things to get those dopamine hits of posting and engaging and you have to be strategic about that, but what's going to be your return on investment of your time and your money that your time, be kind to yourself.

Russ Johns: [00:18:44] Yeah. And don't beat yourself up because you can't do it all. Please. Trust me.

Susan Finn: [00:18:53] Right. Two weeks ago, my newsletter that I sent out was that clubhouse made me cry. I don't know if you guys are on clubhouse yet, but I hopped on clubhouse and I'm addicted to learning. And I was just like, I got to do this. And I got to do that. Oh my God. I'm missing out on this opportunity. And then I had just shut it down.

Russ Johns: [00:19:09] Yeah. I recognized clubhouse. I was on Blab early on and I was a huge... that's one of the early adoptions from a live streaming and getting on video and clubhouse has the same feel like the instantaneous connection and collaboration and the excitement on having a conversation and listening in. And it's really for myself. I knew that if I got too involved with it, it would be all consuming in my time.

Susan Finn: [00:19:47] I think so, too.

Russ Johns: [00:19:49] And so even though I have an account and I'm there and I've really had to adjust my time because all of my clients right now are relationship-based clients, everybody that I have working right now, all of my work and effort is around relationships I've built and developed over time. And so maintaining those relationships is important to me. Email is one method. I use Dubb a lot. I'm a Dubb advocate, relationship on there. StreamYard is a huge piece of the puzzle. I used to be really a lot more involved in email. I'm working to get back into email because it's still such a powerful tool. And I just really enjoy and appreciate building relationships. So it's all of these little elements and you have to be kind and you have to be patient with yourself because you can't be everywhere all of the time.

Susan Finn: [00:20:42] There's no way, there's not enough hours in the day. And you've got to have a life.

Russ Johns: [00:20:46] Yes, you got to have, what do you mean? You got to have a life? I want a copy of this. Is this your sequence?

Susan Finn: [00:20:53] No,  that's a freebie. I think there's a sequence to it, but it's just why have a nurture sequence at all. Why bother having that? So that's an article that I wrote.

Russ Johns: [00:21:03] Okay. Let me put it up here.

Susan Finn: [00:21:08] Yeah, it's just on my blog and there's a freebie attached to that. There's a guide to nurture your prospects.

Russ Johns: [00:21:15] I'll put it in the comments and put it in the comments multitask here. All right. Oh, and there's Annie Lieb. Annie tude. Thank you, Russ Johns, so great to see you both, my friend. Good stuff, Susan Finn.

Susan Finn: [00:21:31] Thank you, Annie.

Russ Johns: [00:21:32] Thank you so much for being here. I really appreciate it. And if you're out there and you're looking for email support and connection I think it's really important for us to understand that email is still... people say, I don't email, that's old school. It's oh no, it's not. It's you realize that there's a lot of, own your list.

Susan Finn: [00:21:54] Own your list. Measure your return on your investment because you can really, you can see your opens. You can see your click through rates. Why don't I give you another, I forgot to do this before. I have a Facebook group. Maybe we had it before. It's called Rise Above Noise and it's a free Facebook group and we have a lot of relationship building in there. It is the one place on social that I spend my time. I go in in the morning. I go in in the afternoon and there's a lot of great conversations happening in there with people who are energy healers, lightworkers, heart-centered entrepreneurs, who are trying to figure out how to make these connections and be kind to themselves and to the people that are looking for them. So I invite anybody to hop on to the Rise Above Noise Facebook group as well, some great conversations. Great. If you're looking, there's so many resources in there, if you're looking for anybody who does anything, you can go into the guides. Now they call them guides, not units, to see where everything's highlighted. This has been awesome, Russ. I love what you're doing. I love the message that you're sending. I love your business model, taking some notes and I'm looking forward to seeing more of you.

Russ Johns: [00:23:06] In the #PirateSyndicate™, I'm starting this model where I'm going to put a pirate crew together that can also help other individuals along their journey. And so people like yourself and people that want to help the #PirateSyndicate™ and the #kindnessiscool movement, it's really important for us to stick together and help each other out and support each other along the journey. In the #PirateSyndicate™, I'm bringing people together and going to offer courses in classes and collaboration and some extra assistance along the way. So if you're interested in doing that, I'd love to talk to you about that. Love to talk to others about that, because I think we're at a point in history where we need to start moving toward a more kinder, collaborative environment where people can understand and appreciate, we can't do it all. There's so many things moving so quickly that we can no longer learn everything. We need to know, do everything we need to do and still survive and our mentality and our mental health. And so people get overwhelmed by it. They don't understand everything they need to. They see a course in online or something like that. And all of a sudden, it's only one piece of the puzzle. It's not everything that needs to be involved in the process. And so we have to help people along that journey and understanding what they need, what their goals are and provide some direction. So that's the #PirateSyndicate™ and helping others produce their own shows and put that in place. So you can show up and continue to do what you love.

Susan Finn: [00:24:46] So that sounds amazing. I'd love to learn more about that.

Russ Johns: [00:24:48] I have made the commitment this year that's going to manifest and it's going to be out there and it's going to be a community of amazing people that are helping each other out along the way.

Susan Finn: [00:24:58] I think one of my life purpose is helping build community. So if there's anything I can do, I'd be happy to help you.

Russ Johns: [00:25:04] Absolutely. And is there anything else, how do you like people to reach out to you and make the connection, Susan? It's always good to be able to connect.

Susan Finn: [00:25:13] You can look at my website, of course, Rise Above Noise, but I would say reach out to me on LinkedIn, Susan Barron Finn on LinkedIn. That's a good place to start conversations. I feel like LinkedIn is a quieter, calmer place these days then even email, even though I love email, things are getting lost in email. LinkedIn, I'm usually paying attention.

Russ Johns: [00:25:36] Yeah. Yes. I love that. Thank you so much for being here and it's absolute pleasure to join you and connect. And if there's any other pirates about, send them my way and I'd love to highlight their gifts and their message as well.

Susan Finn: [00:25:48] Yeah, I'm glad I made a list right here. People to make sure that they know about you and connect with you.

Russ Johns: [00:25:53] Fantastic. Everyone, as you know, like comment, follow, share, whatever it happens to be in the social media, you can go to RussJohns.com for all the episodes. I think we're at 375 episodes or something like that. So there's a ton of information. There's some amazing people in there that you can actually connect with, follow, and consume their content, as well. Susan, it's a pleasure. And as you know #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree because I want you to #enjoyyourday. Thank you.

Exit: [00:26:32] Thank you for joining the #PirateBroadcast™. If you found this content valuable, please like, comment and share it across your social media channels. I would love the opportunity to help others grow in their business. The #PirateSyndicate™ is a platform where you show up, we produce the show. It's that easy. If you want to be seen, be heard and be talked about, join the #PirateSyndicate™ today.

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