Welcome to the #piratebroadcast™: 

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Connect with Kathryn
https://kathrynevans.net/
https://www.youtube.com/c/KathrynEvansNu%C3%B1ez
https://kathrynevans.net/linkedin-profile-quiz/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathrynevansnunez/

Connect with Russ
https://russjohns.com/
https://thepiratesyndicate.com/
https://nextstepnext.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/nextstepnext/

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] It's an amazing day for a #PirateBroadcast™ today. I want to talk a little bit about one of my favorite platforms and anyone who knows me, knows that I enjoy and appreciate and have a few connections on this platform called LinkedIn. And what I want to do is invite a new pirate into the room. Kathryn, how you doing?

Kathryn Evans: [00:00:33] I'm fabulous. Thank you. Good morning.

Russ Johns: [00:00:36] I know that you are one of the individuals that have also enjoyed LinkedIn and some of the things that it brings to the table, and also you help other people bring LinkedIn to the table. So just give us a snapshot for those that haven't met you yet. And the pirate community is looking forward to receiving some information on LinkedIn. Give us a snapshot of how you got to where you are today and what's your backstory on your journey.

Kathryn Evans: [00:01:06] Wow. We don't have enough time for the complete backstory, but let's just say that I was working in corporate America for about 30 years, but I've always had a sidekick of some sort. And you are, you may not know this rest, but I am from Arizona. So I've even had brick and mortar store over on Greenway and 43rd. And I've always had some sort of entrepreneurial venture going on the side, but I was in a corporate position. It wasn't meeting my personal values. I value very much family. I'm a single mother. I've always been a single mother. And I was being torn away from them more and just not happy. COVID came, exited corporate America. And I am that crazy person that used to wake up at night with a new idea to rewrite my LinkedIn profile. And I was in an entrepreneurial group and they said, you know what, tell us a little bit about what you do. And, I started talking about rewriting LinkedIn profiles. So  I think they all, after they pick their mouth up,  they close their mouth and they're like, okay, you're the LinkedIn guru of our group. So that's really how it pushed me in. I didn't even realize that people were making complete businesses, careers out of LinkedIn and LinkedIn is the largest business networking platform that exists. And it's really where you need to be. If you're a B to B entrepreneur, B2B business, B2B sales professional, that's where your target market's hanging out. That's where you can connect with the CEO, the decision maker. You can bypass the the gatekeeper for sure. And so then the business evolved, the art of social selling is alive and well, and I picked it up and ran with it. And my business has been in full swing now for, I think this is 11 months.

Russ Johns: [00:02:57] Wow. Congratulations. I really love the idea that you always had a side hustle going on. You weren't sure what it was, how it evolves. And now all of a sudden. You have something that you can really grab a hold of and make sure that you can help some people and add value. Cause I think adding value to the world is the best way that you can actually get rewards in many ways.

Kathryn Evans: [00:03:21] When I was wanting to exit corporate America, I was working in a very toxic environment. So I  wanted out, no matter what, like I was ready to be a barista at Starbucks but I really looked within and I said, what gifts and skill sets do I have that I can share with the world? So that was my internal #inspiration. What is it that I have that I can wake up every morning and share with the world. And I don't know if it's a certain age where we have that moment, where we get on the hamster wheel of life and we work and we get the kids ready for school. Then we pushed them out and we do our job and when we pick them up, it's just this whole busy life. And sometimes we don't stop and just think, when this is all done, what mark have I left on the world? And so that, that really was a soul searching time that I've done in the past few years of what innate abilities do I have? And what, through my 30 years of corporate America, what skill sets do I have that I can share with the world and combining those together, really social selling and teaching people how to connect with their target market, find, engage, and connect with their target market on a platform linked within LinkedIn fits just perfectly into my skillsets and abilities. A little bit more on my backstory.

Russ Johns: [00:04:37] That's really... I love that backstory and thank you for sharing it because I think it's really important for people to understand that LinkedIn as a platform allows you to actually build relationships and a lot of social platforms allow that to take place in different ways. However, when you have a business focus and you're growing a business and you're transitioning from a corporate environment to an entrepreneurial environment, LinkedIn offers the opportunity to actually engage with a lot of people that understand and appreciate that because there's so many of us that are going through a lot of changes in 2020, 2021 is going to, I don't see it being a huge different environment from the last year. And as people get more comfortable with connecting online, doing video, having a show or a podcast or something, creating content, as long as you could keep learning and growing and improving who you were from yesterday, it's incremental improvements are gonna make a huge difference in your life. And thanks for sharing that.

Kathryn Evans: [00:05:46] I had that conversation with a client late last night. She is growing, that's one of the most beautiful things, even when I was in corporate America. I was in sales, so watching myself team grow and even when they were leaving the nest, so to speak and going out to another job, I was just feeling so inspired that I had the opportunity to touch their lives and their skillsets while I was working with them. So seeing this client who now is doing her own life show series, and I think she's on like episode three and just seeing that growth and how she's... I said, okay, wait don't worry about that yet. We'll get to that in the future. Today, we're celebrating the fact that you're showing up, you're showing up, you're creating awareness for your brand. You're finding your voice. You're finding the guests that inspire you to continue doing your work. Don't worry about the strategic planning of your show. Right now, because that might get in the way of your creative journey for where you're supposed to be today. And we were just talking about that as we were getting ready to go live. Like at some point I should probably fix the lighting. I just moved. I've got yellow light over my head. You don't have COVID hair still with wispies. It just doesn't matter. You just need to show up, you just need to deliver your message and you need to concentrate on the audience and adding value to what they need to hear. It's not about me. Maybe it's about what got me here. It's about what got you there, but it's now how can we impact those people that are watching us live so that we can make a change for them.

Russ Johns: [00:07:19] Absolutely. Positively. The purpose of the #PirateBroadcast™ is to bring individuals like yourself, share a few stories where somebody else can relate and say, you know what? I could do something like that. I could leave this environment that I'm working on, that it just keeps me on the hamster wheel. Like you said, just, it just, I don't want to do what I'm doing. And there's a lot of times, and this, I talked about this many times, Kathryn is the idea that I, where I thought I wanted to be and where I worked so hard to get to. Ended up being, not a dream, but a nightmare. And so you have to really understand it, all of those skills that you learn along the way, and all of those achievements that you've made, those are transferrable. You can move them to from one environment to another environment. So what you're doing, applause hats off #gratitude for your efforts, understanding LinkedIn and how to. Add an appreciate a little value to the world. So thank you. Thank you for sharing that.

Kathryn Evans: [00:08:30] No problem. Yeah. So let's, do you want to talk about some LinkedIn tips, some things that are hot on LinkedIn right now?

Russ Johns: [00:08:39] My first question is what is your favorite feature that you're using you go back to time and time again? What feature, functionality or process do you use on LinkedIn that you thoroughly enjoy?

Kathryn Evans: [00:08:57] I can't answer just one thing.

Russ Johns: [00:09:00] Ok, two.

Kathryn Evans: [00:09:01] I love engaging, right? So you're on the network to engage with your target market. I love being able to drop into somebody's mailbox, direct message them, start up a conversation, get them on a live show, or get them on zoom or whatever I'm using. And I feel like I've known them forever already because I've been following their posts. I've been liking their posts. I've been engaging with their content. And then we get on the phone and it's I've had this old friends that I have never met before, and they have people around the world now that I have conversations with that now are also, I'm inspiring them. They're inspiring me. We, as entrepreneurs, we tend to, especially in the pandemic, right? We are a little isolated and sometimes our only friends are video friends, but if we can inspire each other show up to add value to that person in every way that we can. That's my favorite part. So the DM part of finding the person, connecting with them, I teach people to make sure to weave their personal brand into their about section. So we have your personal brand into your posts as well, so that people can connect emotionally with you. So then when they talk to you, they have, they feel like there's already some type of action. Yeah. And DM is number one, the other thing that I'm going to tell you that now I'm telling everybody I can't live without is the ability to upload documents in your posts.  The algorithm is loving that right now. Now, if you talk to me next month, it could be something different. The algorithm is loving documents. I have a post that I put up two weeks ago, I think, and I think I'm at 14,000 views of that post. The only thing I did different other than weave a little emotion into it, of course, I uploaded a document and that's a PDF. In case you guys are wondering, when you write a post, you have the option to do  images and videos, and this option is uploading a document and it's almost like a mini slideshow.

Russ Johns: [00:11:10] You can do Google slides or PowerPoint or anything like that. And there's a certain dimension that I think is actually ideal. That some people say, I don't know I've tried it different ways, but I hate square fits.  The reality is that great content will always be great content and people will find it. And so it's the rule of thumb is always add value. I could go back to just add some value and people will find you, and it's really important to test things out and see what works for your brand. I also want to mention, I went on your website and  in one of your videos, you talk about the brand and being in alignment with your brand and having that idea that  if I'm showing up and I'm not spending time with my kids, but that's my life. It's not really in alignment with your brand and talk a little bit about the brand itself and how you can keep the business aspect, the products that service you deliver in alignment or in tandem with your personal brand, as it relates to what you do, who you are, how you help, because there's a lot of people that do the same thing, but they may pick you over me because they like you more than they like me because of your brand.

Kathryn Evans: [00:12:28] Oh, a brand or an aspect of my person. So you don't have to go online and give the name and the ages and where your kids go to school and what they do. I've even had a client that was posting pictures of their child, a little girl in underwear. And I was like, okay, you thought that was cute? I'm telling you that shouldn't be, that's a little too much for your brand, but people connect with the cliche, know and trust. So if there is some inkling of a personal story that your target market can associate with, because they want to know if you can do it, I can do it. So if they see themselves in you and they can emotionally engage and connect with you, then you're building a different kind of bond. I actually work with another branding person that says you're attracting your kindred spirits. And when  you're in that flow, when you're reading somebody's copywriting and you're like, oh my gosh, they're speaking to me. They're just, they totally get me. That's what you're looking for. So you're weaving in enough of your personal backstory so that somebody can feel like they can connect with you. I was on a podcast once and I said my degree was in biology and I got this message from a woman that said, oh my gosh, I love the fact that you have a degree in biology. I love to garden as well, and I was like, okay, didn't talk about gardening, but I did say biology, but it was that mention of something that was unique to me that caused this person to reach out from a whole nother state. That if you don't share some of your personal brand, your personality, your authentic personality, then she wouldn't have had a reason to connect with me.

Russ Johns: [00:14:22] I believe, and I've always said, this is that if we have the opportunity to talk with somebody long enough, there's always a thread that we can make a connection with.

Kathryn Evans: [00:14:32] And don't we, by nature, look for that? We just keep, we look we're like pirates, Arizona, oh, content marketing era. Then we could jam all day long.

Russ Johns: [00:14:44] Absolutely. Absolutely. Hey, I want to give a shout out to some of the individuals that have joined us this morning and Jenny Gold is in the house. Mahesh, thank you so much for being here. Jorge from France. Nick Gemmell from Canada. Thank you. Good morning. Nick.  I owe you a response, nick. We'll chat and Wendy is one of those individuals that found me one day wandering around in the #PirateBroadcast™ and she called me up and we've been fast friends. She actually took a layover, a long layover on a trip last year, and we met in the airport and hung out and had coffee.

Kathryn Evans: [00:15:23] Thanks, Wendy, nice to meet you.

Russ Johns: [00:15:26] Sheila Chamberlain, growth process, your maturity. Growth process, your maturity. Candy afternoon, greetings from Luxembourg. Thank you so much. And Sheila, she says impaction. Wendy says showing up is a big step. Shawn Martin morning love the perspective, Kathryn show up and be present. Absolutely, positively. And then Leslie Martinez. Good morning pirates. And then Wendy says needed a pirate with the confidence to join us from her comfy chair.

Kathryn Evans: [00:16:05] And I probably had a pirate hat somewhere, so I could have brought it all up with you,

Russ Johns: [00:16:11] Vikas says, grateful and Lorrie Scott says, good morning pirates. I want to talk, I want to shift gears a little bit and talk about the idea that, and this is one of the things that I have always had a challenge with, and I love helping people and I love putting it out there and I love shining the spotlight on you. And at the same time, I have a business that is in alignment with helping others. However, there are times where I look at the #PirateBroadcast™ and what I share and some of the content that I share, and I actually have a business that produces shows for other people, just like this. So your experience here on this show is exactly what I provide to my clients at the #PirateSyndicate™. As it relates to branding and continuity in that messaging. I continue to work on how to bring those together because that's a business. And this is Russ right? I'm always working to see how I can effectively bring that communication together. And so how have you done that in your business and how have you transitioned? Being in corporate is one identity and it's not who you are. It's what you do. So when we look at who we are without describing what we do, that's one aspect of our brand. And then the service that we provide and the value that really brings to the table is another aspect of our brand. How do you see that in position that in growing your business and in LinkedIn, especially how do you message that in a way that makes sense?

Kathryn Evans: [00:17:53] So there's three, I'm like making notes while you're talking. So one of the things that, and this, if you're listening to this and maybe you're in corporate America or you're even, we could repeat after me, like I am not my business and my business is not me while we're talking about understanding your personal brand and how you weave that in. Remember that your personal success is not tied to the success of your business. If your business fails, you're not a failure. And one of the things I was doing in corporate America is I was tying my success to that of the company, into the dollars in my bank account. And that's a dangerous place to hold your hat and to hang your hat because when COVID hit and they let go of your entire team, your self worth was tied to that success. So finding your own passions within is so important and reminding yourself of your self-worth over and over again, and it's not tied to the dollars in the bank account. So that's one thing I want to touch on. When I first started, I have a live show called the Art of Inspired Selling and when I first started that show, it was during the pandemic and it was, oh my gosh. It's hit, people are probably curled up in balls. They're not as resilient as I am.  That's not a brag and it's just, I have lots of wounds, to carry with me, but...

Russ Johns: [00:19:15] Scars have stories.

Kathryn Evans: [00:19:17] Yes.  The Lord put me here to ...should have, not a Scarlet A, but an R for resilient, but what can I do to support my network? And it touches many lives as I can. With the network of people that I know that are surviving and are not just surviving, but thriving in the new normal. So when I first started my show, that's what it was. It was just getting people's stories out. Maybe somebody was stuck or they were frozen and they could deliver some sort of a teachable moment at that moment that my network could implement. So when I started the show, it was just that it was just get as many people as I could get on Facebook live. That's the only place I was alive to deliver a message out to people. There was no strategy. There was no rhyme or reason. It was just showing up and delivering information. And then I started thinking, people do this for a living. I was contacted by a producer in Los Angeles and they interviewed me to be onscreen talent. And I was like, oh my, gosh this is going somewhere. Like I didn't ever think of myself as on-screen talent and I've had a few auditions. So how you're showing up and things that you're doing, as you said before, It could manifest in something completely different that you weren't even thinking about. That's just like a side product that came about. But then as my show started to go along, I think I'm still a baby. I'm just on like episode 51, but then you start to find your voice and you start to be more strategic about weaving in your guest and how that guests subject matter expertise lends to you, Russ Johns, as the producer of syndicating other people's shows. So then you start to be more strategic about the guest. You start to be more strategic about what that guest has to offer, that you can then take and amplify for your brand, like you just start to learn how you can always go back to your value that you give and weaving in your guests, content to your offer in a very subtle way. Not selling at all, just like you did, reminding people that, what you do that you're the definition of business, is profit. I'm here. I have a business, whatever I do needs to have a positive impact on my business, or then it's just a not-for-profit and you're just could go mentor all day long. just to fill your # gratitude cup. Those are the two, there was a third, but those were the two was making sure that you don't self identify with the outcomes of somebody else's business, making sure that you are, you give yourself grace and you allow yourself to grow your show. And the strategy will appear for whatever you are doing. Make sure that if you're using a show, it's the awareness. You're building awareness. It could be a lead generator show. If you want to monetize it, that could be something down the road, but first you have to build your audience so that there's some sort of monetization that's possible. And then lacing your own a message through your show to make sure that people understand what do you do? Russ you got a great show, but what is it that you do again to make money?

Russ Johns: [00:22:34] Yeah, I produce shows for a lot of people over at the #PirateSyndicate™. You can go over there and check it out.

Kathryn Evans: [00:22:39] Yeah. It didn't cost you a lot either, but it's not free. It's not a not-for-profit..

Russ Johns: [00:22:43] Yeah. The reality is that it's not for everyone. And it's for the right people that want to do a lot of great things and get content out. And their time is valuable and they need a team. That's the essence of what I provide and  it's a beautiful thing that we can actually share it this way, because the idea and the things that you're doing for LinkedIn individuals is upgrading their profiles, upgrading their essence of what I'm here for, which is business. And there's so many people that are not necessarily doing what they were doing two years ago. And as they continue to evolve, I think you mentioned that being resilient is the best skill we can have right now and being flexible and kind, and patient with ourselves.

Kathryn Evans: [00:23:29] Yes. Yes.

Russ Johns: [00:23:30] Because #kindnessiscool.

Kathryn Evans: [00:23:31] And I dunno, we have four minutes, left, but the art of social selling is just a top of the funnel activity where you're using social selling to find, like I said, find, engage, attract your target market, but it's in addition to your regular selling process, your sales process. So what we have seen as everybody's seen it, right? That people just dropping in your inbox here to tell you how good I am, what I can do for you. How awesome I am. And Oh, by the way, here's my link for a 15 minute free, no obligation coffee chat. We have a process called the sq method where we take people through all the way through from creating their personal brand through the very last step is how to take those online connections and into offline relationships, which is what we're doing right now. We're still online, but it's off the platform. We should say into an engaging face-to-face relationship, which is so important in all aspects of business, right? Just vanity metrics. How many followers you have, how many people engage? How many? I just bragged about a view. Okay. The skill would be to convert those 12,500 views into 6,000 clients.

Russ Johns: [00:24:47] Yeah. Or even 60 clients. Or one.. Yeah, all the thumbs up in the world won't pay your light bill if you're not converting them.

Kathryn Evans: [00:24:58] Exactly. And this was interesting. I did a post this past week and it wasn't, even for me I give tips and then I also give tools. Cause I want people to know what tools I'm using to produce a show or to whatever. And so I was just promoting a tool and somebody said, okay, Interesting that you would be advertising on LinkedIn. Haven't seen that done, but I guess people need to know what you do. And I was like yeah, it's a business networking and people need to know what we do, 80, 20 rule or one to four or whatever you want to say, value, teach, create awareness. But at the end of the day, There's gotta be a call to action about what kind of action do you want your readers to take? And it's okay to tell them I'm launching a new course, or I like to have a call with you or whatever, call to action you have, but you need to have one that creates engagement.

Russ Johns: [00:25:52] What I really love and appreciate is when people show up and say it. I've been watching your show for awhile. I'd love to figure out how we can work together. Yes. And that's the essence of what I'm looking at is how do I do that on a regular basis? And it's exactly what you're saying. Share the value, allow people to see your personality. And I am exactly who I am. On camera off camera in person. And when I wake up in the morning, when I go to bed at night, it's the same person. And really it's very transparent. And, I've had a few years experience in the online space and content creation and everything else. Learn so many things and appreciate the process and love the opportunity to connect with people like yourself, Kathryn. So this has been tremendous. I love the opportunity to meet and greet and get a new pirate in the community because ultimately all of my business has been based on relationships and the ego chases the numbers. The personality chases, the relationship. And I just really love and appreciate the fact that we can come together, share a few facts. Inspire and motivate a few more people in the world and continue to build a relationship between you and I and help more people out there.

Kathryn Evans: [00:27:11] Definitely. And yeah, producing a show is a lot of work people. So if you're already busy, find somebody go this way, find somebody to help you out for sure. Because having it done will help you not trip up. You're not a show producer. You're delivering value somewhere else, but let somebody else do the production.

Russ Johns: [00:27:34] Thank you so much, Kathryn. How do you like people to connect with you?

Kathryn Evans: [00:27:40] Yes. So my container of choice is LinkedIn. So go ahead and find me on LinkedIn and send me a connection request. Send me a really good...

Russ Johns: [00:27:52] And say I'm a pirate. Personalize the invitation.

Kathryn Evans: [00:27:55] Yes. Personalized invitation please, because we're judging and go on my website, KathrynEvans.net. Take my LinkedIn quiz. When you take that quiz, you'll get a couple of videos that will tell you a little bit about how to personal brand, et cetera. So I'm just here to add value. Look at my content, read my articles when you're ready and you want to have somebody support you to build a social selling strategy or to do a LinkedIn optimization reach out. And my team will work with you.

Russ Johns: [00:28:26] I love that. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate you, all the abundance and care in the world. Just thank you everyone for being here. And as you know, like, comment, share all of the good social aspects that we do to be seen, be heard and be talked about because #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree and you #enjoyyourday. Take care. Thanks, Kathryn.

Kathryn Evans: [00:28:52] No problem.

Exit: [00:28:54] 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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