Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Marvin Booker and Michael A Forman

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Welcome back to Networking Unleashed, building Profitable Connections. I'm your host, Michael Foreman, and today we're diving into the power of networking through a very unique lens. My guest has built success in two very different industries, launching his own fitness company, and later stepping into the world of life insurance, both ties.

Excuse me. What ties both journeys together? The ability to build meaningful relationships, turn conversations into opportunities, and grow businesses through the art of networking. Today we'll explore how we use networking to get its first clients. How those same skills translate across industries and the lessons he is learned about building authentic connections that lead to real results.

So if you ever wondered how to take your networking beyond just handshakes and LinkedIn requests and actually turn it into profit, you're gonna love this conversation. I'd like to welcome to the podcast Marvin Booker. Marvin. Listen I've known Marvin for really a short amount of time, but we've become friendly, we know each other through networking events and I'm a real proponent of what he has to offer.

Marvin, why don't you get, say hello and give us a little bit about your background. Yeah, Michael, thanks for the great introduction. It's been a pleasure, interacting with you throughout various networking events and hearing your wisdom and how you share it to other people and how people actually gravitate to it.

They take the pointers that you give out and they apply it and then they see results. So I think that's great, first and foremost. But yeah, just you gave a great background on me. I appreciate it. Marvin Booker, born and raised in New Jersey. Born in East Orange, New Jersey. Went to high school in Piscataway, New Jersey.

Went off to play college football at Rutgers University, as well as graduating there with my degree in labor relations and employ labor relations and employment and minor in African studies. Just to fast forward, I had, on and off the field, I had some different things going on, a lot of different life experiences that taught me how to.

Maintain my health, my body. Right? Playing football, you have to train all the time, every day, right? Growing my body, manipulating my body to get the best out of it, to perform at a high level and also when football was, when I was transitioning out of football. I always saw that fitness was always a part of my life.

Transitioning outta football, growing up throughout my childhood, everything throughout my whole life. Fitness has been a huge part and component to me because it keeps me centered. And then there are different life experiences that have come about to say, Hey, maybe you need to learn this, how to deal with your finances better.

Maybe you need to learn this, so on and so forth. So I would find different jobs that would. Help me refine those skills. And in finding those jobs, it was really about networking. It was really about shaking hands, meeting people, not necessarily asking them for anything upfront, but just building genuine connections with people to see if our energy even aligns at any type of any type of situation.

Once that would happen. Then I'll also do the giver's game, right? I will make sure that if I hear something or know a connection that somebody can benefit from, I'll connect those people or give some wisdom from my experiences. And people really appreciate that. And then when it was time for me to ask for something, or if I shared my experiences or what I was looking to do, they would do the same for me, whether it be in that moment or sometime down the line.

So these were certain skills that led me to start my fitness business. Down the line, I started my insurance company, ACE Advisors, LLC, and that was. All through, I was able to build those two components strictly through networking and meeting people and just really slowing down and having genuine conversations with people and letting people know what I do.

So networking is a huge component of my lifestyle, even outside of business when I've lived in different cities, going out and being comfortable talking to people, shaking hands with people, listening actively listening to people. What has been very important and allowed me to keep my boots on the ground in any environment that I was in, to build those relationships, to just feel comfortable in adapting to the new environments that I've been in.

So networking across the board is amazing, and I'm happy to be a part of this podcast so we can share best practices and help other people be successful too. It's, that's great. Marvin. What it sounds like is that, first of all, even through football and everything else, you have structure. You have a sense of, this goes this way and.

By you adding value to every relationship that you've had. It means a lot because it tells me that you are a true networker when you're looking for givers gain, when you're looking to see what you can do for somebody, even before whatever they can do for you. Yeah, because you know as well as I do that, if you do that, what goes around comes around and you will absolutely get it.

That's a great point, Michael. And the funny thing is I've been doing it since I was young. I didn't know about giver's gain. I didn't know about, before we talked about the book Go Giver, right? I didn't know about that stuff. That's all within the past five years. I learned that stuff.

But these are things from being young. And now when you get older and you get in these real situ, real life situations and that there's benefit to what your natural ability is, then it's empowered. It's a blessing. Yeah. You now, you can actually put something behind, even when you're five years old, you didn't know about giver's game.

You didn't know about that. But you and as an adult, you do know about it. It puts a little credibility behind what you were doing when you were younger. Everything all works together. But you've been doing this for such a long time. It's ingrained in your system. It's in your DNA.

Yeah. Just to be a nice person. So by being that nice person by always looking to give, you'll get and receive 10 times over. So let me go into my questions. Okay? Okay. You've built a fitness company and now work in life insurance. Two industries where trust and relationships are everything. What role did networking play in opening doors for you early on

when it was time for me to. There was a point in time where I was a general manager with LA Fitness and I still had my business. My business has been with me since 2012, but that point where I wanted to jump off the cliff and try to fly with it a hundred percent solo, it was hard to find when that point would be.

So when I was working with L La Fitness as a general manager. I was still training people on the side away from the facility. And then it came a point where, I was just kept on telling people, Marvin, you need to talk about what you're doing, how you can help people, and how your experiences from playing pro football and getting to that level can help these people that you're working with that, or that that you're introducing your business to.

'cause there was a point in time where. I think transitioning to civilian life from being a pro player. That's how I put it. I know we talked about that before. This is a different mindset, right? I didn't want to throw the fact that I was a ex-pro player out there, right? I was still, I'm still pursuing the game at one point in time, and then another point in time I didn't want to throw it in people's faces.

I just want to just gradually reveal myself. But when you're talking about that business. People wanna know where your credibility's gonna come from. Yeah, they see my structure, they see my body, but that doesn't mean I know how to articulate my wisdom to somebody else for them to take advantage of it.

So it was just me really putting myself out there, creating marketing business cards or Instagram to create a digital footprint. Reaching out to people on Instagram, going to different networking meetings, introducing myself, creating my el elevator speech, handing my business card to 'em, and just letting 'em know, Hey, if this is something that you're interested in, I wanna offer you something of Givers game.

Once again, a free fitness consultation. And we can put that on the schedule and we can see how we can help you out. And that's just how it really went. Just being on tour. That's how I met you, being on tour, putting at least three networking events on my calendar per week. And being adamant about showing up and being consistent about promoting my business.

That's really how I got Booker Fitness really started. And I have one or two true clients that are still my clients today, after two, two years plus, and they referred me business as well. So both sides, building those relationships allow people to feel comfortable to give me access to their network as well.

That's the best way. Referrals are golden. Referrals is your best mode to see. What clients you can receive. But one thing you had to figure out was, which you probably didn't like doing, you had to talk about yourself. You had to talk about what you could, what you can do, what you did what, everything like that.

Because people want to know. They have to say, okay, look. I see him. Listen, he's got a good physique, but I don't know who he is. Networking is know you, like you, trust you. They'll do business with you, right? Know you. Absolutely. They know you because they'd see your face like you. You're not gonna get along with everybody that you come in contact with.

Very true. So know you like you, but if they don't trust you, they'll never do business with you. So that's what you're doing and the givers gain giving value to the relationship. That's all part of it. That's all building the trust up. But once you build that trust up, that's okay. And then you build something called social capital.

We'll get into that later on. Okay. I think the social capital and the trust kind of went hand in hand because if people see me first and then they see other things, the reviews, the visuals. It makes people say it takes the edge off it. Not a hundred percent trust, but it takes the edge off.

It eases them into the situation for sure. Yes, it does. Yes it does. And you build your social capital. You don't wanna start out just flat, because the first time that you do something incorrectly, I'll put that nicely. You do it incorrectly. That means you're in the negatives.

And you have to build it back up to zero to go ahead. So the social capital is very important. That's a good point. From your perspective, what's the biggest misconception people have about networking and how do you approach it differently? That's from the jump. There's a point in time, like in college when I was going to different networking events that they host for the student athletes and stuff like that.

Things were very transactional and I think that's just how networking is perceived. I'm going here to get something right, or I'm going here to sell something or, and that's okay, for each own. But I think networking, the misconception about networking is that's so transactional. And some people go in there with that type of mindset.

I think you should go in there authentically, you. Abso absolutely. You go in there with Marvin Booker first, or Michael Foreman first, and just have conversations with people knowing that this is the room where people are coming to have conversations, period. So all that's standing on the wall, all that other nonsense.

Get off the wall, right? Go shake a hand, go say hi. 'cause people are looking for you to say something to them or to have to talk to other people. That's number one. Number two, I think that. People should, like I said, people should really be genuine and authentic. Now, some people aren't genuine and authentic as it is.

Forget networking, whatever the case may be. So that's a nother story. But we gonna go there. We go there. Yeah, we ain't gonna go there right now. We ain't got enough time, right? So to step in the situation, be authentic, ask questions, speak, be comfortable about speaking about yourself. I think that's another misconception.

People think that. And I had it myself, right? It's okay to talk about yourself because people want to learn who you are in those rooms. And then if there's some center, of course you're gonna get to the point where you talk about what you do and how you help people. And if there's some synergy there, Hey, let's see if we can connect again outside of this event, right?

And try to see where we can help each other. Or if you hear something that person needs, Hey, I have a referral. Let's connect. Let me, I can shoot it to you, whatever the case may be. So I think the big misconception is that. Networking events need to be transactional. Networking events need to be genuine and authentic, and just building that rapport with that person.

And then the business comes in line to say, Hey, is there somewhere where we have some overlap? Is there some synergy? Can I help you? Can you help me? I think that's a second or third conversation. That's not an initial conversation. Absolutely. And I find that really I used the pandemic as a roadblock before the pandemic.

Networking was very transactional. I have three widget. You have a dollar. Give me, we'll change it. Okay, great. You're on my customer list and that's it. But after the pandemic. When everybody first went to Zoom and they lost the sight of going, of seeing people face to face. It became more relational and now.

It's where the givers gain began and everything else. But when you walk into a networking event, you're I used to be in the mortgage industry and I used to go to these network events and come home with a shoebox filled with business cards and say, look how good I did when I really didn't. Right? So now if I go to a three or four hour event, I come back with 15 or 20 business cards.

Because I know that I created a relationship with those people and I do my follow up sequence. It's my secret sauce and I have 15 or 20 people. But that all goes into the relationship, so that's very true. Okay, when you started your fitness company, how did you use networking to get those first clients and build a loyal base?

Yeah, I think

being adamant about talking about what I do, right? So outside of working out and going to the gym and doing my own personal workouts to stay in shape and people see that. That was one way, right? But if I'm in my casual clothes, I'm going out and I'm having a conversation with somebody, don't be scared to put your business card on the tables and introduce yourself with your business card.

Hey, what's your name? Your Jack. Jack Spade. Okay. I'm Marvin Booker. Introduce yourself with your business card. Talk. Have that conversation. Offer that person, that free consultation. And I think just to, like I said, I think I don't really know the science behind it. I'm just being myself and then I come in contact with people like you and you're pointing out different things that I'm doing that you teach people how to do.

Yes. Yes. So it's like when I get that, the biggest thing, I think, here's the best way to answer your question. When I had one client and I was jumping a hundred percent into my business. I was thinking, damn, how can I get all these people to come and invest in, in a package so I can help them?

And I was running myself crazy trying to figure out how to do it and try to speed up the process. Even going to the networking events and even though having a casual conversation with somebody and giving them that. Free consultation doesn't mean that they're going to take advantage of it, right?

I can't force that person to take advantage of it and be consistent if they decide to show up. So what I did was I refined myself and I just gave a hundred percent energy to the person I was working with. And what I, what that did was it became a word of mouth situation. When they feel good, when they get the energy, when we had deeper conversations that were talking about different aspects of their life, and then we're doing.

Three sets of 12, you're on that 10th rep. It's burning, it's hurting, and I'm pushing to go through. When we're on that rest break, I'm talking to you about how that burn that you just pushed through is equivalent to what you talked to me about in your relationship, your work, your X, Y, Z, we're relating it to that lifestyle event that you're struggling with.

Then when they come back and they tell me, two weeks, a month later, they tell me that lifestyle event, they push through it. And the toughness that they're building in this workout is helping them push through it how you think they're gonna feel when they leave me. They're gonna tell their daughter, they're going to tell their friend, they're gonna tell their pastor, they're gonna tell this, and then that's when the referrals start rolling in.

And that's when I realized it's not about going wide, it's about going deep with each person. And that's going to open up the door. So once I got that first foundation of clients, maybe about five to eight clients, that allowed me to take the pressure off of myself. When I do go to these networking events and have people have conversations with them and offer that free consultation now it's not looking like that free consultation is trying to fish for business and I need it right now.

I got that sales anxiety, right? No, it's coming from, Hey, this is what I really do, and it's your loss. The energy behind is your loss if you don't take advantage of it. I can. I can speak from that. From that space. Yep. A absolutely. Absolutely. And I want to just, all of that was actually great.

But I wanna bring you back to the first part of our, of this segment of this question. When you talked about giving the business card, right? It's not you giving your business card, it's them giving you their business card. And there's a certain way about it that I use personally, and when I am in a networking event or something else like that, and they're talking, they're speaking.

I haven't given my business card, I haven't explained what I do, but they're talking they're telling me everything and yeah. Afterwards. I listen active listening, just like you said, and I listen and I repeat something back to them to show them that I was listening. And I say, you know something? I like you.

I like the way you do business. How can I make you more successful? How can I be a good referral source for you? And nine times outta 10, they say, Mike, I don't even know what you do yet. I don't even have your business card. I said, I know. I know. How can I help you? And that is the biggest push. And that goes right into what you were saying now when you get their business card, there's a few things you write on the back.

We'll go into that later. But you need to establish that for you to go through and have your mindset. Exactly what you were talking about. Exactly what you were talking about. And the hundred percent that you put into your clients, they feel that they're gonna feel that, right? So they said, oh my God, Marvin is like a great instructor, trainer, whatever.

I'm going back, wait, it's Monday. When can I go back Wednesday? Okay, when can I go back Friday? Because I have to get more. And that's what you're after, and I think that's what you're achieving. So anyway. All right. So fitness and life insurance are very different spaces. Have you found the principles of networking to be the same in both industries, or do you adapt and approach depending on the field?

That's a really good question. Ask that. Ask that last part again. That's a really good question. Okay. I'm gonna repeat the whole thing. Alright, cool. Fitness and life insurance are very different spaces. Okay. Have you found the principles of networking to be the same in both industries or do you adapt or your approach depending on the field?

It's a very good question. When I walk into a room, and let's say I'm walking into a networking event, when people see me, they already know. Did he just come from the gym or is he about to go to the gym? Or what did he used to do? So my physique speaks for itself. I'm a walking billboard for my business, right?

Yes. So sometimes. People are already anticipating that I'm in that line of work somehow, some way, and when I, when we, when it is my turn to speak on what I do, they're like, oh, yeah, I could tell. And they're adamant they're more open to learning from me when it comes to the fitness side.

Then when I throw in my experience and gives them more credibility, then they want to, they magnetize to me a little bit more. When it comes to the insurance side, it's a little bit more delicate, I think. My presence, like I said, same thing with from the fitness and the physique that people, it, it commands a certain type of attention and the conversation.

But then when we're talking about networking with insurance, it's a little bit different because you want, when you're actively listening, you want to listen for certain. Certain boxes that are being checked off to introduce the insurance to the person, if that makes sense. And sometimes in those initial conversations, people aren't comfortable enough to reveal those boxes that need to be checked off in order for me to, reveal the insurance side of things, right?

So most of the time when I'm doing the insurance side of things, I'm still actively listening on both sides. But I'm a little bit more patient to offer a meeting or an appointment for insurance unless I feel like that person is very comfortable in talking to me about certain things. If they're not, then I will introduce it and say, Hey, I also do this.

I'm also licensed in life and Property and casualty. I help people accumulate wealth, protect their assets and start looking at retirement planning. If you're interested in this is something that we can. We can help you with, we do these services through insurance life insurance products.

Is that something that you'd be interested in? Or do you have things set up for yourself already? We could take a peek at what that looks like, so we can go over and see if you're in the best position. So on and so forth. So there's certain things that I would say and exit with, and then I'll just follow up.

The follow up game is really where it's at. When it comes to insurance side, same thing with the fitness side, but people are more magnetized to me on the fitness side than they are on the insurance side at this point in time. And that's so true. And I don't want to go into the follow up because we can do an entire hour just for the follow up.

Okay. But I'm, I'm thinking about you with your two lives, right? Yeah. If you go to a Chamber of Commerce and I go every Wednesday, I belong to the Johns Creek Chamber, and there are four insurance people in there at any given time. And each one does pretty much the same thing.

But they're different in the way that they tell everybody. It's different now. There are different levels of trust. Now my insurance guy happens to be in there also. He's a big guy and a boisterous, voice and everything else and he says it one way. And there's another guy who's a little more timid that says that his own way.

Then there's two. Females and they talk about it very hesitantly, so who are you gonna trust? So when you walk in for your athletic, for your training, they see your build and they say, okay, he knows what he is doing. All right. It's two different ways to see them, but you should definitely join.

A chamber or something like that and 'cause that's an every week thing and there's more things involved. But what I'm trying to say is that you're different, right? You're different from let's say those four people, right? Because you can explain what you do. Very eloquently yet. I appreciate you have that training, the athletic training.

When I first saw you, I said, holy crap, who's that?

Okay? And then, I was like, all right, but once I got to talk to you, you were just like a normal guy, right? And so that's one thing that, that I had to get over myself. But enough of that, let me go into another question. A lot of people meet contacts, but struggle to convert them into paying clients.

What's one practical strategy you've used to move from Very nice to meet you to real business.

That's always a, that's always a ongoing challenge, always as an entrepreneur. Because you definitely know your worth. You know how you can help that person. And sometimes it's about not necessarily convincing, but getting on the same page with that person so they can feel what you know, if that's the best way to put it.

So I think the follow up game is really where it's at. You can. It's interesting. It's interesting when you're in a networking environment, no matter where your business is at, whether it's struggling, whether it's up and down, whether it's consistent or whether it's skyrocketing, it's soaring, right?

You have to walk into a networking event with a certain demeanor. In a sense. You have to meet people where they're at, right? I think getting people on page with signing up or coming, it's really just a follow up game because they don't need to know where your business is at and sometimes where your business is at will reflect in your urgency on trying to get a close, if that makes sense.

So I feel like when you're talking to people, you have to be patient with them. You have to let them know, but you also have to have a sense of urgency and. Letting them know this is something that you need to look into. This is something that you need to invest into. Please come to this fitness consultation or come to this.

Let's schedule this meeting to go over your portfolio, see if you're in the right position financially, or you have the right products in place. So I think that urgency comes from being consistent and showing up to the meetings when you can and the follow up game. One day after following up three days, seven days, 10 days, 14 days, 21 days, whatever, you have to have a follow up program that's consistently in front of people so they can remember how you guys connected, and remember how important the services that you offer are to their lifestyle and their wellbeing.

Absolutely. And you have to realize that you're going in as a problem solver, right? Because they have to have a problem in order to utilize your services, whether they don't have life insurance or whether they're outta shape or whatever the case may be. You're the problem solver. So you're not gonna go in there and start selling, but you have to have a certain selling cycle.

If that means anything, right? Yeah. Yeah. So there there's several books called The Art of the Close. You have to learn how to close the sale, close the deal. Now you first are going to give value to the other person because you need to build up that trust factor. They have to trust you before you can close any deal.

They have to trust you. So you have to add value, give value, and they have to, you have to build that up. But then you have to come up with that very sensitive time of urgency to close or just letting them go. It's very fi very fine line, but it is it's one that you tightrope type, tight rope walk every time you deal with somebody.

Yeah. But you have to see. I'm sorry I cut you off. Go ahead. I'm sorry. No. I was just saying it's you have to see the difference. Yeah. I think the rapport part of it helps you, makes that tightrope a little bit thicker for you. If I can build that rapport and we can have a good conversation, we can go back and forth or we can have some banter and it's not so professionally strict. Just that rapport between me and you just feels like light. That's why I say being authentic, being genuine is important, right? If you come in there strategic all the time, I'm not knocking anybody that comes in there strategic. You gotta have a certain type of plan you wanna attack.

Hey, I wanna shake five ca hands. I wanna get 10 business cards, so on and so forth. I get that part. But if you could build genuine rapport with somebody and it feels like that wiggle room to press somebody to come to that. To that meeting whatever your service is gonna be a little bit wider than it is if you're trying to be so strict and then you don't wanna rub somebody the wrong way when you're trying to be pushing them to come to the situation.

You see what I'm saying? Absolutely. And that's why you never talk business first out of the. You never talk business, and I use something called FORM, family, occupation, recreation and message, because I'll pick any one of the above, right? Have 'em talk about their family, their son, daughter, sister, brother, mother, father, whatever.

And I'll start talking to 'em about that, the recreation, if they have children in youth sports. I told you before, I've been a baseball coach for 16 years. I was an umpire for three years. I can talk to them about any sport. Baseball, football, basketball. Not soccer because I don't consider that a sport.

Even still, you be careful. You gotta be in Atlanta when fifa, when the World Cup comes. So you better be careful saying that. I know, but my tongue. But I can talk to them on just about any one of those levels. So I listen for them to speak just slightly on one of those levels and then I stay with it.

So the first 10 minutes we talked about everything but business. And that's the way you started out. Okay. So we've all had a networking moment that flopped. Can you share one of yours and what it taught you about building authentic connections? Now flopped. In what way? When I'm walking in the room, I'm having conversations with people or flop, like it dropped the ball on the follow up side.

More so that, okay, because listen, you're not perfect. I don't wanna be the one tell you, but you're not perfect. It had to have one time where, oh, you know what? I should have followed up with this guy. I didn't. Or I shouldn't have said that to this guy. I did. What's one time that happened?

Follow up game is crazy. Yeah. The follow up game is crazy. Literally, you think I'm playing around? I wish I could twist this camera around one stack, right? Two stacks, right? Let me show you three stacks. This is all from, and I got four more stacks like that right here. I'm not gonna waste nobody's time, right?

But this is from the four months of being on tour networking. Do you think I followed up with everybody there? I did not. I did not. Now, did you put them on the other side of your computer when you had That's funny. That's funny. That's funny. So if people don't, people that are gonna watch this, me and Mike had a conversation and I told 'em about the business cards on my desk.

So I told him when I get home at the end of the day. I make sure I follow up with 'em and then I move 'em to the other side of the computer to know that these are people that I followed up with. These are just as something to keep the fire up under me, right? If I'm sitting down and I'm relaxing, I got 30 minutes.

I say, you know what? There's some cards on this right side of this computer. Let's go over there and at least shoot two, three emails over there and then put it on the side, because that's what he was talking about. But yeah, dropping the ball on some follow-ups, dropping the ball on when I had a. A genuine connection.

And in that conversation I'm like, you know what? This popped off. This popped off. Hey, I know Jody. Hey, I know Kyle that can help you with what you're doing. Let me connect you guys. I might have dropped the ball and not did it right when I said I was gonna do it, or I might did it a month later that has happened because my mind gets so busy.

So I definitely have done that before. But I think that when you do send that referral, or when you do make that connection, it feels good, number one, because you did what you said you was gonna do, whether the referral works out or not, you did what you say you're going to do. And I think people appreciate that because when you do speak to them and they don't know you from a can of paint, when you do speak to 'em, they know, okay, at least Marvin's gonna do what he say he's gonna do.

And I'd rather have that stick with me overall than really getting a service. I want people to feel that way about me. But. Yeah, I mean that, that's probably one of the biggest way I may be consistently dropping the ball, but I can always do better at, and I know that's an area of improvement for myself.

You're only as good as your word. That's it. In this, my mother used to always say, you can take anything away from me, but you can't take me, you can't take my word. If I say something, I have to do it. Yeah. And people remember, if you don't do it, listen, you can do it a hundred times, you can do what you say you do, but the one time you don't do it, that's the time that they're going to remember.

Yeah. So you have you have to come through and you have to do what you say. Now, when I had networking groups and people had referrals back and forth, they said, oh, I, when do you follow up? I follow up within 24 hours and I'm really good about it. And I said that's good. Now change that to four.

Follow up within four hours because if you leave it to the next day and you're gonna, you'll forget about it. Something else will come up, an emergency will happen and you won't do it. So follow it up before you go to sleep. Yeah. That's tough too. That's tough. That is tough. And if that's, it's, let's, if that was a big criteria, I've definitely dropped the ball on that.

You working all day, you get home from the networking event. The networking event ended at 7 30, 8 o'clock. You end up talking to somebody until 9, 9 30. You get home at 10 o'clock, you still got to eat. You got, and then you send an email at one o'clock you like, ah, I wanna go to sleep now.

So sometimes you do wanna carry that energy from the conversation and follow up right away, but then sometimes you do drop the ball and you don't get into it until two or three days later. So it's important to have different systems in play, but until. But also don't let that for people that's watching, don't let that deter you from being adamant about starting the process.

Lean into it. Start the process. Go to the networking events, get the cards, build the relationships. Start following up. You drop the ball. Okay. At least you know where you gotta get better at as you're growing in this networking process. And that's what, that's the biggest thing about it. That's the smartest thing about it.

Absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. Let's go a little bit more into the networking and ROI. For someone listening who wants proof that networking drives profits, what's an example of a deal partnership or opportunity that came directly from your network?

I mean from the fitness business? The referrals for sure. Yeah. I. The first person I had, I was still, I met that person in LA Fitness and it was just a casual conversation. I saw that she was, I was actually my turn during my lunch break to work out, and I've seen her a couple times, but we never spoke.

I was on the mat, I was stretching, I was doing some engagement stuff and some stretching stuff, and she looked at me. She said, what's that? What are you doing? I never seen that before. So we had a conversation. I showed her some pointers and I seen like her eyes just pop open, right? And then she couldn't let me outta sight.

Every time I come in there, she'll talk to me. She said, oh, you how you learned this? And I told her, I run business. I did this and that, blah, blah, blah. And she was like, can you train me? And at that point in time, I didn't want it to be a conflict of interest with the company, right? Sure, sure.

I said, no, I can't do that. I told her why she was, and she was upset. And then she asked me again like a week later. Then she asked me again a month later, and I had told her three. I told her no three times. So something rang off in my head like in sales, I'm gonna push for three no's. Once I get three no's, I'm gonna ease out.

I'm gonna just reconvene another time. I don't wanna turn you off to me as a person. And I want you to feel like you're forced to do anything. So when she, when I told her no three times like this woman's pretty adamant. I say, if she asked me again, I'm gonna figure out a way how to help her.

If she ask me again, I'm not gonna say anything, but if she asks me again, I'm gonna figure out a way to help her. A month goes by, she asks me again, she comes, sit down at my desk at the place, Hey, this, and I was already thinking about leaving and going and do my own thing. I said, you know what? Meet me here at this park at this time, this date, I'll help you.

All right. We started doing that and that person, I just had her as a client yesterday. That was two years ago. Two and a half years ago. That was a real life example of going deep with one person, giving them what they need. And she opened up her network and I, little did I know, I didn't know who she was.

I didn't know what she did. I didn't know what her background was. This woman is a very she's a pillar in her community. People really confide in her. They ask her for advice. They ask her for references. So when she opened up her network, to me, that's what really gave my business the opportunity to thrive because it was all of her clients for the first 10 months.

And that was a real life example of how Booker fitness and performance got up and running the way it did. That says a lot for you that's an adamant to you because to have somebody to stick with you that long, especially your first client. Yeah. That says so much about the way that you run your business.

So that's kudos for you. That's my family from now. That's my fam outside of her firm business. We just have that connection where we go out to lunch we talk, she invites me to places. I invite her to places. That's like my family at this point and I have a lot of respect for her, so I appreciate that.

Good, good. How important has personal branding been in your networking success? And what advice would you give listeners who don't feel confident about how they show up?

I'll answer the back half first. Okay. I was always taught that your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room. That's what I was taught from a, if we're not even talking about religion, let's just talk about it from a spiritual standpoint. If you believe in a higher power and you have a talent ability.

Has led you to get a certain role at a job, right? Led you to be a certain type of person running your business. Whatever role that you play, you have to walk into a room knowing that you are already one. Knowing that you have, you are the subject matter expert knowing that you are. The leader of your own life and that people should, it might be sound like a little bit inner arrogance, but people should appreciate the fact that you're in the room and that you're even talking to 'em about what you do because you can benefit from it.

Now, that's not something that you, Hey, you should talk to me because, you could benefit. I'm not gonna, but there's a min, there's a mindset behind things, right? There's an inner understanding about yourself that you have to carry. It's not for everybody to know, but they should feel it from you.

Okay, so going on that thought, okay. When you walk into a room, how should you be dressed? Because that's a big part of how people perceive you. That's a good question and I can't say that you should be suit and tie. Everybody should be suit and tie, right? I can't say absolutely not. You should. Wash your face.

Number one, don't come in there with no sleep in your eye and white in the corner of your mouth. Wipe your face, clean your face. Be presentable like your mother sent you out the house. Smell good. Make eye contact with people when you talk to 'em and you shake their hand. And just be presentable, right?

That's the part of being genuine and authentic if you like to wear. Whatever you like to wear and it's flashy. It's, it is expressive. Go ahead and do that. 'cause people need to see that and feel that. If you are just a guy who'd like to wear, you got five jeans in your closet and you know you got five shirts in your drawer, that's fine.

Come presentable. As long as you come presentable in your represent, you're representing yourself how people would want, you want people to remember you. It's all good. Like I said, your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room. So if you're making them feel good. If you are leaving them with a scent that you have, if you're leaving them with a certain type of impression from the conversation or just them observing you, your demeanor, all these things matter because when you consistently show up or they see your social presence that you build online, it's going to, you need to add up and match.

It needs to be an extension of you. So going back to the first part, social branding is important. I used to hate posting when I first started doing it, but then I looked at it like I'm not posting for people. I'm literally going on the Instagram. I'm connecting my LinkedIn, my Facebook, and I'm posting to keep a digital footprint of the things that I'm telling people in person.

And that mindset got me just posting people like hell you posting all day. I see you all the time. Yeah, that's good. Thank you. I'm on the top of your mind. So next time you're looking for insurance or you looking for a fitness. A performance consultant, you know exactly who to call because I'm on the top of your mind.

That's what I wanna do. Exactly. I always profess, whenever I go into a networking event, or networking or meeting somebody one-on-one, I always dress one level up from where they are. Okay? So if they're a construction company and they're jeans and a shirt I wear a pair of. Slacks and a shirt, right?

If I, if they are one up, they dress jeans, but they wear a sports coat, I will dress business casual slacks, shirt, coat. And I might even put a tie on if I go up one level, right? If you know you're gonna go meet somebody else, you're gonna put that tie on. If you're just gonna stay, it's always one step up and not so much that you're putting in their face, but you look clean, and you look well adjusted and everything because all of that goes into, it goes into the first time that somebody sees you.

It's so hard to take that picture outta their minds. That's a good point. I never heard that one up concept. That's the first time I've always heard dress for the occasion or dress for the conversation. I've heard those two things, but I never heard the one up concept. That's interesting.

Always one up and because you'll never be underdressed, you'll never, so it's just, it's a habit that I've gotten into. But, after I do a workshop if I go into a company, I'm always gonna go see one of the C-suite executives. I'm always gonna go see an executive and I wanna make sure that I'm dressed the part.

So that's what I do. Okay. Did I answer your question fully? Did I answer that question fully for you? Yes, you did. Okay. Yes, you did. Okay. Life insurance is all about learn long-term trust. What have you learned about maintaining and nurturing professional relationships over time, not just in the first meeting?

Don't rush. Okay. Very important especially down south. Don't rush. And I'm an up north guy. I had to get used to that. So am I. You had to tell me to slow down, like Mike. Yeah. You talking too fast. Yeah, talking too fast. So talking normal, it is. It is. It is. It is very interesting because, on the sidebar, God knew when to put me in Atlanta, right?

Because. The way I used to. I was moving fast. It was just natural. That was a natural pace of things. If we're say we're gonna get something done. Yeah, let's get it done, we don't need, but then you had to learn the culture. Yeah. We said we're gonna get done. Oh let's have dinner, let's have a coffee.

Let's meet my family before we get it done. This is a different culture. It's a different pace to building business and building that relationship with professional relationships. So I think, yeah, don't rush. Have that silent confidence about yourself, that whatever you guys talked about in those initial two conversations or whatever you brainstormed about, where you see some collaboration, have the confidence, even if it's a month later that it's still gonna go through, it's still, I'm still able to offer this service.

And that person's still able to offer this service. Sometimes in those gaps of communication, when I'm super busy and that other person's super busy, we might have doubt creep in. We might have worry creep in, and that frequency alone can shake up certain relationships with people, right? Because now you get back in the conversation thinking that the person didn't even want to talk to you when that person's basically just as busy as you.

So I think building that rapport even now and then hey, let's go get a coffee and connect. I, that's what I do. I do a coffee and connect with people. If I think that we're having a great conversation in that networking meeting and there's some professional relationship that we can build for.

And the rela the conversation's really going. I still wanna network in the other, in the room, and I still want you to network in the room, but let's make sure we put something on the calendar right now before we break this conversation. Let's do a coffee and connect because I'm really into what we're talking about and I want to continue to grow that relationship and just take it as one step at a time.

So when I do that coffee and connect, whether it's a week out, then we can be lighter about talking about things. And then potentially go into the next setup. Hey, let's go do dinner, or This event happened, or My friend is doing this, why don't you come out? And that's how you build the rapport until something takes off.

So I just think, don't rush. Be yourself. Have some great conversations, and know the reason why you guys are connecting and talking until other reasons and other rapport points come about where you continue to build that relationship. Absolutely. Absolutely. And all that goes back into the know and trust.

It goes back to you being authentic. It goes back it that resonates. That brings everything together as one thing until of course that leads you up to what All your follow up, right? So you have to have that follow up sequence. Alright, let's bring this podcast full circle. Okay. If you could give one networking tip today that would make the biggest difference for someone listening, whether they're in sales, fitness, or insurance, what would it be?

If I can give one big networking tip to someone who is in sales, fitness, or insurance, what would it be? To my fellow trainers, you are professionals. I think that the mindset behind training, right? You're getting your aggression out, you're getting your energy out, you're building your body.

I think that sometimes as a trainer, I've seen in other trainers that they just stick to that. Concept of being in the gym always in their workout clothes, always just training those people, working them about working the leads that are in the gym, so on and so forth. But you are a very important and integral part of this world.

As a fitness professional, it's okay to. Work in the gym, have your gear on, you're doing your workout, you train to your, change it to your trainer clothes and then go put on some slacks, a blouse if you're a woman, whatever the case may be, and go to a networking event and pitch services to people or talk to people about what you do.

I don't really see too many fitness professionals in the networking space. I think I might have been the only one that is doing that. So I think I've taken my experience from. Sales insurance, that business acumen and have applied it to my services as fitness. And that kind of sets me apart from other trainers that do what they do.

I think that's a big part. So if I can give advice to the fitness professionals in the world, don't be scared to step out your everyday box and present yourself as a business. To get those clients that you want or just to be comfortable in talking about how you help people and let God work for you.

Let God bring those people into your presence because everybody needs some type of level of fitness instruction in their life. So I would say that absolutely. And you're a fitness professional, so remember that. But remember, you are a business person who. Does fitness, right? You're not a fitness person that does business, right?

You're a business person that does fitness. And there's a stark difference between the two. Yeah. So if you treat this like a business, you'll go far, you'll expand, you'll get more people. But if you're just a fitness person doing business, then you're just gonna onesie, twosie, and that's not what you're after.

So you're after bigger and better things, right? Marvin? I gotta tell you, this was great. I could talk to you for another hour, but if somebody, that hour was about fast man. Yeah. Yeah, it really did. It really did. If somebody wanted to get hold of you either for insurance or for fitness, I would recommend Marvin for both.

But if they wanted to get hold of you, what's the best way? So you can find me on Instagram, my Booker Fitness and Performance llc. You can find me on Instagram with at Booker Fitness. There's a link there that gives you, connects you to my website, booker fitness.com. You can also DM me and schedule a fitness consultation if you're in the Gwinnett County area.

Also, my phone number's up there (470) 998-6826. You can call or text. My email is Booker Fitness and Performance fifty6@gmail.com. If you are looking for me on the insurance side, it's ACE Advisors on INS on Instagram. There's also a link there that gives you to my website where you can actually get a free quote there.

You can call that number as well, and that will go directly to my work line. You can also reach me at ACE Advisors inc@gmail.com. Perfect. Marvin, this was a blast. I can't wait to see you in person again and have yourself a great day. You too, sir. I appreciate your time and this was a great opportunity to share my experiences to brand, continue branding myself and being a part of your network as well.

So I really appreciate that and I wish you the best of wishes on your current and next endeavors. Thank you.

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  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.

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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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