Episode 117: Why You Should Attend Conferences Outside Your Industry

Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner, author of the books Launch and Writing White Papers, and the man behind Social Media Marketing world - the industry's largest conference. He's also host of the Social Media Marketing podcast, founder of the Social Media Marketing Society, and the central character in The Journey, an episodic documentary. Biggest Takeaway You Don't Want To Miss If you're in a business that involves interacting with customers face-to-face, then you know that there is something magical that happens in the human connection that cannot happen on social media. Although we have video and comments to allow interaction, but it's not until you get around like-minded or relatable people that you find that extra level of energy, excitement, camaraderie, and community. When you come together in a small-group or large-group setting, so many valuable tangible and intangible outcomes can result. Show Highlights Who is Michael Stelzner & what is Social Media Examiner? [3:00] How important has branding been to your company? [4:00] What is your episodic documentary, The Journey, and why do you keep doing it? [7:30] Why is connecting offline so important? [12:00] What are some of the extra activities that happen at Social Media Marketing World? [14:00] Where can we sign up for Social Media Marketing World? [26:00] Links The Journey Social Media Marketing World Share The Show Did you enjoy the show? We would love it if you subscribed today and left us a 5-star review! Click this link – Bella In Your Business Click on the ‘Subscribe’ button below the artwork Go to the ‘Ratings and Reviews’ section Click on ‘Write a Review’ Transcript: This is episode 117 of Bella in Your Business. This episode is brought to you by my free webinar Jump and Scale Your Business, my three-part training series all dedicated to finding and attracting the right people that will help scale your pet sitting business. In Jump and Scale, I will teach you step-by-step processes that will help you find out who your ideal candidate is, how to create kick-ass advertisements to attract them, and how to make the selection process simple. Plus, you'll also receive worksheets to make implementing all of this into your business easier than you can imagine. This is a must-attend if you have staff, want to grow, feel like you're being held hostage by your own business, have high turnover, are way too involved in the hiring process, you feel burnt out, or you're just not seeing the results that you want. Join me for the Jump and Scale Your Business three-part training series. Register now for free at jumpconsulting.net/scale. Before I start this show, I needed to record a quick snippet just for you from me. You're going to hear the incredible Michael Stelzner of Social Media Examiner and many other things. He is the man who kind of spearheads the Social Media Marketing World every single year. This year it's slated to be the largest—it's almost like the Super Bowl of social media events around the country. It really truly is. It's going to have 7,000 people. And right after the taping of this show, Mike and the team actually asked me to be a speaker. To say that I'm excited is just a major understatement. And I really hope that you listen to this show with open ears and an open heart and consider joining me. It would mean nothing more to me than for when I ask who is a listener of Bella in Your Business podcast, that there are audience members there watching. The topic I'll be talking about is Facebook groups and how to build them in your business from small mom-and-pop brands all the way up to big corporations. The principles are timeless and I'm so super excited to present at this conference. It’s the biggest honor ever. Now here’s the show. Welcome to Bella in Your Business, where Bella will discuss anything and everything about your pet sitting business to help you land on target. So get ready—Bella’s got your chute. Let’s jump. Welcome to Bella in Your Business. My name is Bella Vasta, your host, and today I have a long-time waiting guest coming on. I'm so excited to share him with you. Your life’s going to be changed after you hear all of the resources and enormous knowledge that my guest has. Michael Stelzner is the founder of Social Media Examiner. He's the author of books Launching and Writing White Papers, and he's the man behind Social Media Marketing World—you know, that conference that you hear me talk about all the time. It's actually the largest in the industry and arguably kind of the Super Bowl of social media conferences. He's also the founder of the Social Media Marketing Society and the central character on The Journey, which is an episodic documentary that's on Facebook that you should totally check out. Michael: It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. Bella: 100%. So for those of my listeners who might not know who you are, can you give us a little bit of background—how you got to where you're at today, what you spend your days doing, and more about who you are? Michael: I am definitely an entrepreneur. It’s a complex question to describe what I do because as you mentioned, I do a bazillion different things, but I think the best way to describe it is I run a media company, and we create a lot of great resources that are free to help anyone who wants to understand how to do social media marketing. That anyone could include the dog walkers of the world, or it could include the people that work for the companies that make the food that the dogs eat. They still have to figure out how to market all that stuff. We try to help them figure out this crazy jungle-changing world of social media. Bella: You actually just hit on something really cool that goes into branding. You said it's a crazy jungle, and that’s something that Social Media Examiner has in all of their branding and conferences. You've got your little guide there, taking you through that jungle. How important has that branding been to your whole company? Michael: With the magnifying glass! When we started in 2009, we said, “Help us name this character,” and they called him Scout, which is a great name, right? I think it’s important because back when I started in 2009, you had all these social media networks that didn’t have anything but an F in their brand. Facebook didn’t even have an F; they just had the word Facebook in blue. Twitter had a bird, and I thought to myself, if Twitter can have a bird, I can have a little dude. People remember avatars more than names—like Michelin Tire Man and all these other characters. I took a lot of heat. People said, “Why would you read a publication with a cartoon character as its avatar? That’s childish.” But today, it’s become an unforgettable brand, at least in our industry. Bella: It has definitely become part of your brand. I saw someone on Facebook the other day holding up one of those big faces on a stick like we used in pictures at the last conference. It’s funny because social media is a lot about connection, but also data, analytics, and testing. I know you are a professional failure—said with love! Michael: Yes, I failed my way to success. Bella: That’s what a lot of successful entrepreneurs understand. You got a lot of flack for that, but what makes you keep going forward when you get hit with resistance or even your team saying, “Mike, that’s a bad idea”? Michael: If we just do what everyone else does, we’ll be like everyone else. In a world now where everyone has the same platform—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn—there’s a lot of noise out there. If you want to stand out, you have to do things that are memorable. That means taking risks and trying things that might fail. Everything I try to do is not necessarily just different, but better. My philosophy is “better beats normal every day of the week.” Bella: Tell me more about The Journey. I’m a big fan of it. For our listeners, it’s an episodic documentary that follows Michael as he plans this Super Bowl of an event, Social Media Marketing World. I love that you show your failures—it adds such a human element. What made you keep going with The Journey? Michael: I took a big risk. Normally, when I’m on stage, I look polished. But the real me is a t-shirt-and-flip-flops kind of guy. I thought, “What if we filmed the chaos and fun behind the scenes of running an event?” I looked at Undercover Boss, The Prophet, and Shark Tank—they all have story, struggle, and success. So I decided to go for it. I hired a videographer, and we started cutting episodes. People loved it. It wasn’t perfect, but we shipped it anyway. Season two is better now that we have a full-time videographer. Bella: Why do you keep doing it? Michael: You wouldn’t think showing struggles would be smart marketing, but it is. It’s the most powerful thing I’ve done. People used to tell me they loved my blog, then my podcast, but now everyone talks about The Journey. It’s just a seven-minute show that takes 30–40 hours to edit, but the connection it creates is huge. People say it makes me human—they see themselves in me. That’s powerful. Bella: I love that. It shows your team, your process—people love seeing how the sausage is made. And that’s something any business owner can take away. It doesn’t always have to be polished. Michael: Exactly. People love behind-the-scenes content. My daughter’s a Star Wars fan who loves watching the making-of documentaries more than the films. People want to know how things are done. Bella: Speaking of connection—why is it so important to meet people offline? Michael: If you’re in a face-to-face business, there’s something magical that happens in person that can’t happen online. There’s energy and camaraderie that only happen when you’re around like-minded people. Some of the best collaborations happen at these events—people meet future partners or collaborators.