Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Kelly Lorenzen and Michael A Forman
- mforman521
- 5 days ago
- 17 min read
Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable Connections, the show where meaningful relationships create real business growth. I'm your host, Michael Forman. Let's be honest, entrepreneurship can be exciting, rewarding, and exhausting. A lot of business owners are chasing growth while quietly running on empty.
They're building, solving problems, managing pressures, and trying to do everything themselves, but here's the truth. Sustainable success rarely happens in isolation. My guest today understands the importance of building a business without burning yourself out. We're talking about why networking and community matter more than ever, how the right relationships can reduce stress instead of add to it, and why people around you often determine how far and how healthy you grow.
If you've ever felt like you're carrying the weight of your business alone, this episode is for you. So I'd like to introduce to the podcast Kelly. She is an expert in this field, so I can't wait to ask her these questions and get her responses. But Kelly, welcome to the podcast, and why don't you give my listeners the CliffsNotes of how you got where you are today?
Thank you for having me. Everything you just said is everything I talk about all the time. Okay, good. So you're speaking my language. I love it. Thanks for having me on. I got where I am today with a lot of resilience, a lot of burnout, a lot of learning my lessons, and a lot of people around me.
I built a really good network. Every business I've ever owned in the last 24 years has been built on networking and referrals. So I totally agree with you that we cannot build sustainable businesses without having that, for sure. It's so true and that is the crux of networking, right?
Because networking is not only business, it's in your personal life as well. If you go to a department store or grocery store, and you s- talk around... You turn around to the people behind you, you're networking with them, so it's all on different levels. All right. That's for sure. Many entrepreneurs believe success requires constant hustle.
At what point does ambition quietly turn into burnout? It can hit you it can hit you out of nowhere, but it's... But there's a lot of red flags that come up with burnout. You start to... You're not sleeping, right? You're not doing anything besides working. You don't have an outlet. When you start to feel exhausted every day, all day and you're not giving yourself any breaks, no self-care, no days off burnout will creep in for sure Yeah, it really does.
And, if you realize that all of your friends are around business, right? Everybody who you talk to is business, and then you realize that you have no personal life, and that's one of the big red flags that I've always noticed. I've been in, in my own businesses for 40 years. And, I fort- I was fortunate enough I had my brothers with me, but, you have to realize that you need that time off.
You need that time to unwind and let go, and that is different with just about everybody. So- yeah ... okay. I always tell clients, take 24... Even if it's 24 hours off, do shut, n- do not answer emails. Don't look at your phone. Hopefully if you can have a separate phone, from your business phone.
If you can't, just don't answer. It's, it's the weekend or whatever your days off are. And be disciplined about keeping that. It's hard as business owners to go 24 hours without looking at your email or, doing anything for business, but it will help you start to come down a little bit and enjoy life if you give yourself that permission to have at least 24 hours off a week.
Yeah it took me a long time to realize how important that truly is. I- in the beginning in my 20s and my 30s, I thought I was Superman and I can handle everything. And then slowly but surely, it, and a couple failed businesses and then startups and everything else, you say I have put my- myself into this 100%."
And you realize, as I got older, that's always not the best thing. Yeah, exactly. And we do burn out faster the less time we take off. And the less time you can actually remove yourself mentally and physically from the business, right? We were good in our... in my 20s I built a ridiculously large real estate practice.
I was good about going on vacation. We would work 26 days straight, we'd go on a five-day vacation, come back, work another 25 days, go on a six-day vacation, but I was still working on vacation, so that was the issue, right? It w- we would go away thinking, oh, that's the deal, right? You just have to go away.
No, you actually have to unplug. Remove yourself. Yeah, ab- absolutely. Abs- and it's funny you say real estate because most of the f- most of my friends that are realtors, they say almost exactly the same thing. And it's, for them, they don't know how to unplug. Yeah. It's no," they, "My, my clients need me."
And that's the worst thing in the world to say. All right, so How does isolation affect entrepreneurs even when their business appears successful from the outside? There's no outlet to talk about the struggles, to... You think you're, you're the only one going on this rollercoaster ride of entrepreneurship.
If you don't have your community to lean on with people in the same boat as you, or even if they're in the same storm but not the same boat, they're... The entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster, and you have to have people on the ride with you. Otherwise, you feel that isolation so badly.
I talk to people all the time, they're like, "It's so lonely. I'm, feel like I'm on an island," and all this stuff. I'm like, "Build your community the faster..." And I tell people go every week, once a week, go to a networking event. Once a day have a virtual coffee and be on camera and see people in, and do the, do these things to, to set yourself up for... And once a month go, to a bigger a conference or, once a quarter so you f- are around the same types of people that you're, the either the same types of organizations or just entrepreneurs in general who are high-achieving like you.
It's worth being around those people 'cause you can th- you know, talk about all the craziness. You have to be around like-minded people. And, that's good that you say to go to a networking event once a week. I say twice a week, right? Because one is a main meeting, another one could be a Zoom call or a meeting or something else.
But w- we're human beings, and the human beings need that touch, need that to see face to face. During COVID, that, that was my line in the sand. Th- when everybody went indoors and when they started coming out, it's like people forgot. They forgot that they need to just be in touch with one another.
And one of the things that I teach is, go to one, go to two networking events per week, and once a quarter go to a conference, right? If you can't afford a conference, find a big networking event. And it's very easy to find them. Just go online. You can go to Meetup or all these other places, and you can find...
There must be a thousand of them. I go to th- three of them per week, and I also have my own. I created my own networking group just so I can see the interactivity, people coming and going and saying hi. And I made a lot of friends that way. You'd be surprised at how many friends you make.
That's for sure. Yeah. Of- 'cause you realize that these are like-minded people. These are businesspeople trying to get ahead. And so when I say go to a networking event, you go with what's called a servant's heart. You go looking to give, not receive. And when you're g- looking to give, it takes all that pressure off your shoulders, and it's "Ah, this isn't so bad.
I can do this." And it becomes easier and better, and you get a lot more out of it. That's for sure. I get ... I love doing the connecting is my favorite thing, so I love going to meet new people, and then I'm like, "Ooh, my client needs you. Oh my gosh, you need to meet my client.
You guys would be great referral partners." So it's my favorite thing at networking. Yeah I have it on my calendar that I make a connection once a week. Yeah. Once a week I bring two people together, and I step away. I let them handle it and everything else, but I'm the one who brought them together, and I make it a
I made a pact with myself, this was two years ago, that every single week I'm gonna bring two people together. That's really cool. There's a new app called Introsphere that you can track all the referrals you give. Oh, really? Yeah. Gonna write that down ... I-N-T-R-O sphere, Introsphere, like introduction and your- I love it
sphere of influence. The Arizona Entrepreneur's founder and another guy started that app, and it's ... they just launched and they already have a couple hundred people on there. But it's nice to be able to say, "Hey, I need you to meet this person" instead of doing a whole email and a whole, introduction.
You're like, "Nope connect." And then it shows how they do, so that's kinda cool. Oh. Yeah, that is pretty cool. I'm gonna check that out. Okay, what role does community play in helping ... What role does community play in helping someone build a business without carrying the entire weight alone? To everything.
I- in my book... So y- you're speaking my language. I was... My book is called Do What You Love and Outsource Everything Else: How to Start, Grow, and Scale Without Burning Out. And I talk about that in, I think, chapter eight and nine, is building that community for l- for referral partnerships, for vendors, for clients.
It's not just, you're not just building a community to talk about, "Oh, my gosh, it's so bad," "entrepreneurship is so crazy." You want to build those really good relationships, so when you need a banker, oh, here you go. Here's a banker, and they have an SB- they have SBA lending.
You need a, an attorney to help you with, to trademark something. Here you go. I have an attorney for you. You need somebody to continue to build your business without you having to do everything yourself. You need a trusted partner like us who does that for you, the implementation team, right?
But if you didn't know me, you wouldn't know that there's fractional help out there that you just plug and play. Here's the team, right? So you can lean on everybody in your community for referrals, for vendors, and for clients understanding, and you hit on so many points, so many good points that I don't even know where to begin.
But it is so important that you... I learned th- this in, in, in business a long time ago. I do the things that I love. I do those things. And the things that I hate I source out. I don't wanna deal with that, so I just do the things that I love. And again, fortunately I was in business with my brothers, so they took up, a lot of that.
But we all worked off of one another. And, I'll tell you, o- on a bigger scale, Steve Jobs when he first created Apple it was... he knew his strong points, but his weak points, he hired the people to fill those weak points. So he had a well-rounded board, and not just a bunch of yes-men.
So- Exactly. That's what I tell everybody. I'm like, "Hire people smarter than you. You have to. A- and have them do everything you're not good at." That's why I co- coined the phrase, "Do what you love and outsource everything else." Absolutely. It's great. That's a great thing. How can networking become a source of support and energy instead of just another obligation?
Yeah. You have to be careful, right? Because in, when you know why you're going, I say set an intention before you go to a networking event. Why, what's the point of going? And most of the time I say look for referral partners, because you can build your business faster with 10 referral partners instead of 10 clients, right?
Because those 10 referral partners can give you that many more connections to more people. Again, w- we're not looking for direct clients. That will come naturally. But if you're building referral partnerships, you're gonna be s- you're gonna be set the second you have 10 really good referral partners.
Absolutely, and those referral partners, that's a never-ending client source, right? Exactly. If you get a client, that's great. You got to hit that, that, that client, so unless that client refers you. But those referral sources will constantly refer you. So yes, that's how you increase your business. What signal, what signals tell you someone is building a sustainable business versus simply surviving day to day?
They're really good at delegation. So I teach clients a KODA method we call it how to keep the things you're good at, which is the K. O stands for outsource. Outs- outsource the stuff that's really specialized and needs somebody really smart to, to outsource to, let's say a fractional CMO like us or a fractional CFO, right?
Outsource those. Delegate to your team, the D is delegate, to your team the stuff that you're like this is repetitive. It's the same thing over and over again." You record a video how to do these things, these tasks. You can delegate those tasks. And then the A is automate. There's so many cool things now with AI that you can automate, oh my gosh.
So the people that instantly when I say, "Oh, we have a KODA method, and it's, what to outsource, what to delegate, automate," and they're like... And they can spitball exactly what they've outsourced and delegated, I'm like, "Ooh, you're building a sustainable business. You're set." And the people that when I say that, they have their eyes this big, and they're like, "Ugh, I'm doing all of that myself.
My whole list is everything myself," I'm like, "You're gonna be in trouble unless you hurry up and start outsourcing and delegating and automating stuff." Yeah, absolutely. And of course, it depends on how much money they have when they started. If you're starting behind the eight ball, that, that's even, that's much more difficult, and it's a whole, formula how many months you need in, before you go into business. But that's, y- what you said is exactly right What do meaningful relationships of- why do meaningful relationships often become more valuable as a business grows and not less? You can lean on people so much more.
What... I never thought about having a banker until recently as a business owner, and I've been a business owner 24 years. Somebody in my network referred me to a banker and said, "They will give you the most amount of relationships you'll ever need, and the... And you can get lines of credit. You can have a small business loan."
There's so many ways to increase your business just by that one relationship, just by that banker. But the people in your network, you can lean on for, "Hey, I have this idea. I... Oh, I need a patent. Do you know a patent attorney?" But if you don't have that community to lean on, you will...
Yes, you can look on Google and figure out your reviews, but h- has anybody that you know worked with them? Like, how... You don't even know what questions to ask them, for the relationship. So if you have, if you continue building all those really good relationships, it'll be... it's everything.
It's a huge time saver, yeah. Because, yes, you can probably get the answer in, let's say, three or four days after you finish researching the person and his Google reviews and see if anybody worked with him. Instead, 'cause when you get a referral, it's like a done deal. Exactly. So you immediately c- call...
So it, it works out really well. How can entrepreneurs build genuine connections when they feel overwhelmed, stretched too thin, or constantly busy? You have to outsource delegate, and automate so you can go network, so you can be the face of the company. I tell people, as business owners, especially small business owners, you need to be the face of the company.
So you need to be out doing the networking. But you don't need to be posting on social media. You don't need to be doing bookkeeping. There's things that you can get rid of off your plate so that you have the time to build those meaningful relationships, to go to the networking events, to give back, and, make connections for other people, and then it comes back tenfold all the time.
Yeah. When you are the face of the company, and people realize that when they see you, they see your company. But there's a mantra in networking that really comes to life. If they know you, if they like you and trust you, then they'll do business with you. And know you you go to enough networking events, everybody knows you, right?
But likes you, that narrows the field down just a little bit, because everybody's not going to like you. But trust, that's a major factor- ... because nobody's gonna do business with you unless they trust you. Yeah. So once you've established that bit of trust, then you can go further with your networking and everything else, and it actually becomes easier and more enjoyable, and you'll enjoy doing it, and then you'll see to give away the things that you don't wanna do.
But, that's- Exactly. So that's not- Well- ... here nor there. But- and they say what, is it nine times that somebody has to see you, hear about you, talk to you to even build that trust? So you gotta- Between eight and 12 ... keep going. Yeah. Between eight and 12 times. It takes between eight and 12 times of touches.
It could be emails, could be seeing you, it could be something else. But before they even... 'cause I have this whole thing with emails. A corporate email, when you first send an email, you have a 2% chance of them responding to that email. And you say, "Oh my God, that's really low." But I also have a system, I call it my secret sauce, of follow-up, because I feel the follow-up is more important than actually meeting the person.
And if you finish with a full follow-up, I can get you to about 75% of a chance of them returning your email. Positive or negative, that doesn't matter, because at least and but it's very important. But always remember it's between eight and 12 touches before- Yeah ... they'll even respond to you.
Yep. All right. Exactly. So don't give up. Don't... No. No. Persistence. Per- unless they come out and physically tell you no, then you say okay, I'll stop," but otherwise you're persistent, you're consistent, and the consistency pays off. The persistence pays off in the long run. It...
This is not a short-term game, right? This is a long game. What's the difference between surrounding yourself with people who drain you and people who strengthen your growth? Wow. That's everything, too. There, there are groups that you can go to and you can feel the energy immediately like, "Ooh, nope, not my people."
Yes. And then you go in other rooms I have a networking... Oh it's not a networking group, it's more of a media company, but they put the most high-achieving women in all of the US in one room together and, $100 million, $50 million companies that these women have built and scaled and sold.
It makes you wanna do more. You're like, "Oh, the ceiling is way up there." "I'm not done yet." And so it- ... it makes, not forces you, but it makes you want to continue achieving if you're in the room with people that have done stuff more than you have done. I would've never written the book had I not been in that group, right?
I would've never been on stages and on TV and done any of this PR stuff had it not been for that group. So it makes you if you're in the right room, it makes you want to achieve more and more. Yeah. It makes you want it. That's all. It really, it opens your eyes to say, "You know something?
I thought I could only do this level." But this opened your eyes and you can say, "Wow, I could do so much more." And you wanna do so much more, but then you realize you can't do it alone, and the people who you surround yourself with... Now, remember, i- this goes back to having a circle of friends, right? Do you wanna have a circle of friends that are always doubting you and saying you can't do this and...
Or would you rather have a circle of friends saying, "Yeah. That's great. Do it. You need help? I can help you or something." And all of that it lifts you up and it makes you wanna do more, makes you wanna do better. 100%. How do strong communities create opportunities that would never happen through strategic, through strategy alone?
I think we kinda hit on that before, right? Is having those connections and the referral partnerships and just thinking, like that lady said to me, "Do you have a banker?" And I was like, "Oh my gosh, no, I don't have a banker. I have a bank." But that's not the same thing as having a banker in your corner that gives you referrals, or that gives you money. It- it's true. It's true. Okay let's bring this podcast full circle. If a listener wants to grow their business over the next 90 days without sacrificing their wellbeing, what one relationship building habit would you recommend that they start immediately? At least one networking event a week, and one virtual coffee a day Okay.
Wow, that's really good. And if they can do that, then they should well be on their way. 100%. And because as long as you know what you're going to that networking event for, or what you're having the virtual coffee for. I'm always building my community, building my network so that I can have... When someone, a client asks me for anything, I'm like, "Got you.
I already know somebody that I can give you. I know two people." So you have that. So I'm always going to the networking group to build my network so nobody can ask me for something and I'm like, "I don't know anybody." No you're absolutely right. 100% right. I could probably talk to you for another hour because we talk so much on the same level.
Yes. We really coincide. Kelly, if somebody wanted to hire you, or be mentored by you, or just call you to say hi, how can they get hold of you? Our website duplicatemyselfklm.com and that has all of our contact in- information. That's great. Okay. So this conversation is a reminder that entrepreneurship was never meant to be a solo journey.
The right community can give you perspective, support, encouragement, accountability, and opportunities you would never create on your own. Strong relationships don't just grow a business they help sustain the people building them. Take one step this week, reka- All right, let me start that again.
Take one step this week, reconnect with someone who brings positive energy, insight, or encouragement into your life. One meaningful conversation can shift your mindset more than anot- more than another hour of overworking yourself. If you found value in today's episode, make sure you like, follow, and subscribe to Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections so you keep getting the best insights on networking and communication.
And share this episode with an entrepreneur who could use both encouragement and community right now. If you like, if you'd help to strengthen your communication and building relationships that lead to opportunity and sustainable growth, visit MichaelAForman.com to learn how I work with professionals, teams, and organizations.
So until next time, build your business, protect your energy, and surround yourself with relationships that help you grow. Wow, that was a mouthful and I could barely get through it. But Kelly, I can't thank you enough for coming on the podcast. You were wonderful. Thank you so much for having me. It was a pleasure
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That's a wrap, folks. A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such incredible insights today. And of course, a big shout-out to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your time with us. If you're interested in my digital courses, being coached, or having me come and talk to your company, just go to MichaelAForman.com and fill out the request form.
Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. It's about being present. So take what you've learned today, get out there, and make some meaningful connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to subscribe, leave us a review, and share it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.
Let's keep the conversation going. You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, MichaelAForman.com/podcast.
Michael is a business networking expert specializing in enhancing professionals' networking and communication skills to drive profitability. As a leading authority in this field, he is highly sought after for his dynamic presentations and workshops. His extensive experience has consistently led to significant improvements in corporate profitability by empowering individuals and organizations to connect more effectively and efficiently.
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