Episode 183 Transcript

Heather Porter (00:03.032)

Hello and welcome back to episode 183. I'm managing a new partnership program for someone and I learned a lot on the call today with the 20 partners that attended and I just wanted to share a few things with you guys. So first of all, what do I mean by partner program? So essentially they're like ambassadors for a brand and then they get commissions if they sell anything from the content that they put out, like affiliates, if you know what that means. So

 

Today we had a one hour call and I'm managing this program. So we got everyone on sort of midway through a launch to talk through how we're all feeling. How's it all going, et cetera. And this call gave me a lot of reminders about how, guess just important lessons and things to think about in business and life in general. And I thought it'd be actually really helpful for you guys as well. So I thought, Hey, I'll just share them with you while they're fresh on my mind.

 

So the first thing is the importance of community and really truly how important it is. In the call today, what I realized is it like literally gives you real time access to what people actually need, not just what you think they need. Cause the team and I were, you know, we sort of on purpose didn't throw everything at them that you normally would in a launch and a partnership because we wanted to hear from them what they needed.

 

And it always surprises you on what actually people need. And because you think you're going to have the best intentions, but it's sometimes different from what they actually need. The second thing about community is it's it's being part of one that really helps you stay connected and in touch with the pulse of your people, the people around you, how they're feeling, really importantly today, what their doubts were and what inspires them as well. We learned a lot about that, too.

 

there's like this sort of energy that only comes from when people are feeling really seen, supported and surrounded. This I think is like business fuel because there were people in the group that have never said anything, have never sort of spoken out in our last calls. And for some of the things we changed today on the call, they were speaking, they were, they, and they, they said they really felt heard and supported. So community power of community.

 

Heather Porter (02:29.91)

Number two is to listen closely. And I learned this from the founder of the company, really watching her and how she was around the people that were on the call. your next product, your next service, or even your next idea might be just hiding in that casual comment or even questions that come out from your group. People are always giving you clues through their language, their problems, and what they're kind of like gravitating towards as well.

 

So one thing I really picked up on today was like, instead of rushing to sort of create something, take a lot of moments to pause and really focus on your, on your listening skills, because listening is a skill that separates like reactive businesses from responsive ones. Like truly, truly creating the space to listen, staying humble. Another huge lesson today too. There's some really

 

Powerful people on this call and you would never know it you would never know it unless you go and research them online your next Just because people come to you for help doesn't mean you have all the answers by the way, too That's the key so true leadership has been a student of your community and not just a teacher and that's what the founder of this company did extraordinarily well she shared but then she just opened up the call and the conversation to be about everyone else and

 

something that might resonate with you guys as well as like the thought of arrogance. It can really keep people quiet. Have you ever been on a call? Maybe you've led a call and you talk the whole time and you don't listen. And even if you say, Hey, do we have any feedback? You literally shut it down pretty quick. that's kind of like a sign of arrogance and people pick up on that and they will stay quiet. They won't want to jump in and offer any information. So I think like that's

 

really important, like stay curious instead of what you know, what you have to share, what you have to contribute, stay curious instead about what other people want to share, maybe what they might offer. So we've got community, power of community, listen closely, staying humble, giving people space as well. Not everyone opens up quickly. Most people don't, especially in communities or groups. So silence is actually important. It's kind of like

 

Heather Porter (04:56.128)

It's not a gap to fill, not for you to just jump in and always talk into. It's actually a door to just hold open. And this is something else that the founder of this business did well today is for me, was like kind of like itching, know, itching to the other seams and going, God, there's a moment of quietness here. And I would normally jump in and like have to fill it, you know, sometimes, but she's very good at just letting it be for a moment.

 

And because of that, there were three people that came and started speaking that in the last call never spoke that and volunteered actually some of the most important information in this call today. So just kind of letting spaces exist of silence. Sometimes somebody just kind of needs to think, maybe I can jump in. Space makes people feel safe. think like rushing can really shut down like the insights that you actually really want to get out of people.

 

And sometimes your most loyal community members are the quiet observers. I think we've all seen this before. Certainly if you've been around a while in business, they'll speak up when they feel invited, not pushed. That's the key. And a lot of good leaders will do that too. They don't just jump in. They'll kind of sit back, absorb what's happening and then offer like a one-liner that's just a drop of gold for you to pick up on. And curiosity is better than certainty is the last one.

 

Your role does not have to be to have all the answers. It is better to ask questions. It, certainty can like unintentionally close doors as I keep saying, right? And curiosity keeps doors open. If you're curious about who's there and what they have to say, you come at it in a very different way rather than that sort of preachy way, I guess that sometimes meetings are run. Innovation and relevance come from staying curious, right?

 

I actually have a really great interview coming up about that in December that you're gonna wanna tune into around that sort of mindset and how that works. But like just staying curious about what your people need right now and also not what they needed a year ago, because that's always changing. Part of our conversation today was going in understanding that people are way more educated on creating content and how social media channels work and.

 

Heather Porter (07:10.774)

Marketing hooks and all these things that a year ago had I spoken about that on a call people would have been a mind blown They would be going that is life-changing stuff Whereas now the market knows about it a lot of at least the people in this community know about all that So that's actually not the stuff that you know, you go and you think this is good stuff But is it a year old basically?

 

So instead we allowed them to talk about what specifically in their marketing was working because they already all know how to do it. So it's just reading the room, right? And allowing them space to talk about it. So I wanted to share that because definitely a few moments in there, I learned how to behave differently going ahead in meetings and calls. And hopefully there's maybe a couple things in there that will help you out as well. Yeah. So next event, next client call.

 

Maybe you're talking to your own group or membership or community. There'll be a couple things you can bring into that. Thank you guys for tuning in as always and until next time. Talk to you soon.