Thought Leadership Studio Podcast Episodes:
The Law of Giving and Receiving - Interview with Steve Ramona
Episode 54 - Your Network is your Net Worth. Transform your business from a transaction-based approach to a relationship-based approach while Doing Business with a Servants Heart
#communication, #entrepreneurship, #inspiration, #interviews, #leadership, #marketingstrategy, #networking, #persuasion, #socialentrepreneurship, #storytelling
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What this episode will do for you:
- Discover the power of building relationships and trust in networking, and how it can lead to long-term success in business.
- Learn about the importance of giving and receiving in business relationships and how it can impact your growth and influence.
- Understand the value of featuring your customers and promoting others on social media, creating an environment of goodwill and rapport.
- Explore the concept of transforming your business from a transaction-based approach to a relationship-based approach.
- Take on a challenge to bring value to every person you meet for a week and see how it can positively impact your personal and professional life.
Steve Ramona
In this episode, we have the pleasure of speaking with Steve Ramona, the host of the podcast "Business with a Servant's Heart." Steve is also the Global Sales Director of InPhone.
Steve shares his passion for networking and building relationships, emphasizing the importance of bringing value and serving others. He believes that networking should focus on building genuine connections rather than just selling products or services.
Steve also discusses the power of giving and receiving, and how it can lead to long-term success in business. He advises listeners to shut up and listen, bring value to others, and strive to improve by 1% every day.
Some of Steve's coordinates:
Curated Transcript of Interview with Steve Ramona
The following partial transcript is lightly edited for clarity - the full interview is on audio. Click here to listen.
Chris McNeil: I'm Chris McNeil, with Thought Leadership Studio, and I'm sitting here across Zoom with Steve Ramona, who is the host of doing business with a Servant's Heart. Steve discovered networking was the real deal at a very young age. He's on a mission to teach the world how to network correctly.
His passion for the Law of Increase is his secret sauce. Podcasting now is the new Way to network. So welcome here you are in that network through thought Leadership studio and build an incredible inner circle. The ability to bring value and serving is a skill that will increase your networking, says Steve, welcome Steve. Great to have you here, man.
Steve Ramona: Thank you for the opportunity. It's going to be a lot of fun.
Chris McNeil: Yeah, I love the whole concept of doing business with a Servant's Heart. What happened or what was the event or the turning point that led to starting the podcast specifically with that positioning, which I love by the way.
Making Connections at the Health Club
Steve Ramona: Thank you. Yeah, it was 18, I just got out of high school. You are all excited. College maybe? Yes, I did eventually junior college, but my family started a health club and my cousin Jeff reached out and said, Hey, would you like to work in the summer and work at the front desk and check people and doing a simple job, which looks simple to me. Yeah, I could do it. I need, of course you're 18, you want money for summer and all the fun things you're going to do.
But what happened was, Chris was I started meeting people, 40, 50, 60 people that were much older. At the beginning I was nervous. It's like, what do I say? And so we taught a lot at the health club. I eventually became a manager and one of the key components to the business with my family, customer service.
That was our mission, our purpose of the course to make people healthier and feel better and all that. But what I learned was these people became friends of mine. I mean millionaires walking. Hey Tony, have a great workout, Debbie, have a great workout. And then other people too. But I started building this network. I eventually stayed on, Hey, can you run the front desk? Can you be a trainer? And I started doing some odd jobs and doing different things and I'd go out to eat and people go, Hey Steve, good to see you.
So I start seeing people as friends more than just members, not all of them. But I can tell you today not to be bragadocious a little bit, if I ran into somebody today and I did yesterday actually, perfect example. I ran into a guy, it's been, we closed in 2000, so it's 23 years. But I met this guy 35 years ago. He remembered me.
Chris McNeil: That's awesome.
Steve Ramona: "Hey Steve." "Hey Tony." And that's what building a network is, but you build a relationship. So I learned how building these relationships really helped me. And a real quick story, Tony and this financial advisor worked with hundreds of millions of dollars. He used to tell me about his client. I'm like, wow, drove a great car, nice car. He came in one day, Italian guy, kid, what's up?
I said, Hey Tony, what's going on? He goes, I got some advice for you. Read the Wealthy Barber. I said, sure, Tony, you're a financial guy. I'll read it. So the next week he reached out to me and asked if I read and I said, I did. And said, what'd you get from it? I said, 10% of my income, I should stuff away somewhere. Don't look at it for years. Great kid. Go ahead and do that.
Well, 12 years later, when I was 30, I'm going through my bank accounts. I look at it periodically, but in my mindset, I never touched it. I just let it grow. There was $58,000 in that account. I was like won the lottery at the time. I think minimum wage was six bucks, but we know what compounding interest and all the different things that the financial vehicle was doing.
So I called Tony because I still had his number. He had left the club, he'd become good friends. And I said, Tony, hey, this is what happened. He says, kid, I'm glad you listened to me. Most of my clients didn't, and guys could have become billionaires if they would've listened to me, but they had their own way and that's fine. He said, you listen. I said, can I give you a thousand dollars? Send you some money. What great tip. He goes, no, your reward was listening to me and taking my advice and you initiated it. So now I learned not only building a network, this is how you serve people.
Chris McNeil: It's almost like an expanded group mind concept, isn't it?
Steve Ramona: That's an engineer way of Exactly way to look at it. So when the podcast became an opportunity in September of 2022, just last year, and I've thought about doing it just I don't know why, but just interest me and the who we're going to talk about, Kyle, who I met is now a good friend of mine said, Hey, we're looking for a thousand of the top thought leaders in the world in business that want to help change the world.
Win-Win Networking: An Offer You Can't Refuse
I'm like, I'm in because I've been serving for years referrals. Hey, here's my network. Bringing people into my network and my ecosystem and my inner circle, Hey, here's a fit. And just getting, Hey, thank you. I got this and this happened. We partnered up. Pantheon really led me to monetizing that because it's a win-win.
I bring you a referral, they sign up, you pay me a little bit. You've got a great client. They're excited to work with Chris. All three of us win. And I laugh, I think of The Godfather every time I say that. It's an offer you can't refuse If everybody's winning, it's a great thing, but can be done by anybody.
Chris McNeil: And we'll probably dive more into this whole pantheon too, which I'm fascinated with. And to the listener I recently got introduced to, and this reminds me of some interesting things, Steve, is there's an author I like named Robert Anton Wilson, and he used to give talks and one of the things he did at his talks that he's discussed in some of his audio books and interviews is he would have everyone in the room write a description of the hall leading to the conference room. It sounds like a weird exercise, doesn't it?
Steve Ramona: It does.
Chris McNeil: And then he would go on the board and start getting everyone to get their descriptions up. What he demonstrated experientially to this group, first of all, the wide range of descriptions there were, but the big thing that people would discover through this was that no matter how much detailed they remembered from the hall, everybody else's description could add something to it that they didn't notice.
And what it says is that no matter how much of an expert you are, there's something you can learn from everyone because we've all got a different point of view of the world. And you just shared a pivotal moment about a book shared through someone in your network that made a huge difference in your life.
Steve Ramona: And I paid it forward, shared it with other people, people in my staff and people that were looking to get financially better and income. And I hear all the time from people very wealthy, and I use wealthy as that rich people are smart. They did something right to make money. And they all say, if you're not learning, you're not growing. And I love what you said, Chris, because it's exactly it.
What Makes a Master Networker?
Chris McNeil: Yeah, it's about a growth mindset and being open-minded and how would you - being a master networker like you are - that's a nice focus point for listeners, and I'm trying to be a good listener advocate here and think of what has Steve got to share that's special a lot. Obviously you can take it somewhere else too when it's time.
But on networking, what to you separates somebody who's great at it from somebody who isn't in terms of their belief systems, how they look at the world?
Steve Ramona: Great question. You go into a networking group to sell your product or service, you'll have temporary short-term life of sales, but you won't have long-term. You need to come into a network group. The right way is build a relationship, get to know Chris, let's jump on a one-on-one. Let's learn. And here's the secret sauce, and I'm glad you said that. I love sharing. This is when you meet with somebody one-on-one, always bring a law of increase of value. Shut up and listen, I had to learn this.
The podcast has helped me a lot. So when I show up and really listen to Chris and you experienced it with me as I'm learning, as you're talking, oh my God, this is a good person for him. Here's a great resource. Here's a tip, and I'm writing. One thing that I do is pad a paper. Now I started in August of 2023. I never did it before. I think we talked about that. Putting on the computer,
It makes a difference. And for example, just yesterday I was talking to a guy, I said, I've got a great referral for you. Well, if I didn't write it down, I had it dated. I found the referral and the information he needed, they're going to connect today and he may become a client. So being resourceful with your networking and referrals. And so the bottom line is bring value.
Now people go, well, how do I do that? Whatever is going to bring him an increase in positive energy. We know universe, that's how it works. I may bring you a great couple referrals, but in two weeks a billionaire may call me, which happened four weeks ago because I've done so much value. This billionaire called me out of the blue and said, I want to work with you on my podcast. I think it'd be great for my philanthropic opportunity.
Well, that came only because of me serving and bringing value to people. And Chris, it is so much fun. I had a guest on yesterday that has an incredible story and go to my podcast and listen, I have some great stories that really lift you. But we got done. He goes, and this guy's pretty popular in the base, MLB, his dad was a hall of fame, MLB baseball player. So this guy's been around. He says, you're one of the greatest guys I've ever met.
And I didn't do anything special except I brought him value. I connected him. He said, your connections are incredible. They're good people. And guess what I'm building? I'm building another network. He reached out to me and said, Hey, let me help you connect with some major league baseball players to get on your show.
Chris McNeil: That's awesome.
Steve Ramona: Yeah, audience, if you get that listeners, it is so powerful because we so focus on who's my next client? I got to get more clients. It's a numbers game. Talk to a hundred people. I get two sales. Okay, it's that much money. I'm not putting that down. But it's so much more fun to be able to give somebody something because not everybody's going to be your client. We all know that. We've all sold something as entrepreneurs, but bring them around as a partner or bringing them referrals without expecting them to give referrals back. That doesn't work.
Chris McNeil: So a couple of things I'm getting here, if I can regurgitate for the listener and for you to maybe say, yeah, you're on it, Chris, or no, it's more like this. Part of it is trusting the law of giving and receiving and approaching life with a generous attitude. And that's sometimes if you consider yourself in a sales position. But it also brings up to me the contrast between inbound and outbound marketing.
Because every time you add another positive relationship and you've put money in that bank so to speak, you got a positive balance in the relationship you paid it for without even asking for anything return. Just because it feels good to help other people, then you're expanding your outer circle of goodwill that something's probably going to come through. So is part of it saying things in circles of influence where you're contributing to that in order to add fuel to that influence machine, so to speak?
Steve Ramona: Steve (12:38):
It is. And I'll go back real quick. When you said giving and receiving, I had to learn this for 10 years. I've been giving, giving, giving, but my universe didn't really change. Opportunities came. But once another billionaire I met, which I've never met billionaires before because of the podcast and bringing value, they're coming to me. The universe is changing. He said to me, and he built his whole business, he made billions of dollars giving, which people are like, oh my God, billionaires rich people, they take all the time. No, they don't.
Now that I'm meeting them, they have a way. He said, the important thing about giving is Steve, when you give, you got to make sure you receive. And I used to shut that off. I'd go give you a bunch of referrals, Chris, and you'd go, how can I help you? I'm good. Hey, enjoy the referrals. You need me to help reach out. Well now you put people in a guilty negative emotion. God, this guy gave me everything I want to help him, and I just shut you down.
So what you're doing is you're blocking that universe. And that's what happened to me. I've learned this. I did it for 10 years, I've changed it. I've made more money. I've helped more people because money is energy as well. When you give it and receive it, you've got to give it and receive. It's the yin yang of the energy. So I love that you said that. That's so value important. Now I'm an outlier because most people will receive Absolutely. Yeah. Here, yeah, here I'll become a client or whatever that is.
But remember that, and again, it's not a scoreboard. Don't give Joe Smith two referrals and think he's got to give you two back.
The Current of Giving and Receiving and a Wealth of Contribution
Chris McNeil: So it's like a current - currency equals current. And you don't want to block the flow because hey, if you deprive someone of giving to you, you're depriving them of the good feelings of giving to others.
Steve Ramona: Current. Chris, you're smart. That is exactly what it is.
Chris McNeil: So it's almost like your mindset might be likened to something like accelerating the whole current of giving and receiving and making sure you're not blocking that flow anywhere and putting it out there, focusing on your contribution because isn't that one of the best expressions of wealth is a wealth of contribution?
Steve Ramona: Yeah. Who's going to be unhappy about that? I made a billion dollars. Here's a hundred million for my favorite nonprofit, whatever that looks like financially.
Chris McNeil: So in a relatively short time, you've turned doing business with the Servant's heart into a top notch podcast, which had to take vision, had to take a sense of mission, had to also take organizing your efforts, and that's become, so to speak, at least one of your thought leadership platforms where you can share what you have to offer with an ever-growing audience.
What do you think are some of the key things that you've learned from that experience that would be relevant to any listener who's looking to increase the span of their influence, whether their format is podcasting or writing a book or writing a blog or simply through posting on social media? What have you learned that's maybe unique to you in some ways that would be empowering to people doing that?
Steve Ramona: Love that question, Chris. That's such a great question. One of those things is again, shut up and listen and learn. But the other thing is ask, like yesterday I asked, Hey, I'd love to meet some major league baseball players. Now having the platform of podcast is great. The other things I do, they would not be interested. So I'm a fan of the podcast or any platform where you're promoting people, a blog, a radio interview, a TV channel interview.
Wherever you're promoting somebody, you become a thought leader in that promotion. But guess what you did? You brought this person and you've elevated them, whether they're multimillionaires or making a hundred thousand a year in their eight to five job. Everybody wants to be promoted and talk and they all want to talk about themselves. And if they're good people, it grows. And what's happened is my business has grown, my referrals have grown, and from those referrals are great podcast guests, a gentleman, Dr. Rob Kelly, just a great guy. He works with child trauma. His assistant heard my podcast and said, Hey, he needs to be on your podcast. He's incredible. He does hundreds of thousands of dollars a month in helping people, but his mission is to help people.
Chris McNeil: That's awesome.
Steve Ramona: Todd, yesterday he was part of, like I said, his father's hall of fame, m l b player, powerful. But he's got a great story about the shooting in Las Vegas. These opportunities come because again, it falls back to serving. I treated somebody so well for like, Steve, you're amazing. I get the greatest emails. Just Colleen, who was on my show this week, she wrote, you're a rockstar. You're such a kind person with these introductions and how you do it with a servant attitude.
You live your podcast, Chris, that's the greatest compliment in the world. I'm not saying it to be braggadocious to brag, I'm bragging because I'm not the only one who can do it. You could do it, Chris, at any listener out there can do it. It's not special sauce. It's not take you millions of dollars or hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's like the habit of getting up at five o'clock every morning to get to work so you're not late. This is just another habit, but it is one of the most powerful habits. That's why it's in Think and Grow Rich. The law of Increase.
Chris McNeil: That's right. Oh, think and Grow Rich is awesome. I love the whole mastermind effect that Napoleon Hill promoted, and I think he said it was Henry Ford and Thomas Edison we're in a mastermind group together and think about their accomplishments and just think about this and then you bring this up in me. I love the concept of the unified group mind. Social media makes so much more accessible to us than it used to be. And man, you're right on with this.
Giving people, giving others a platform and just by symbiosis, by law of giving and receiving, and by the natural network effect, the best way to increase your audience is to help others increase theirs. And it seems second nature to people that have been doing it a while that get it. But then we look at people maybe in a sales position where they're driven by numbers and you have to make this many contacts and there's an outbound contact as many people as you can mentality because a certain percentage of them will convert.
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And there's not maybe a systemically enough acknowledgement of the need to create and nurture the types of long-term relationships that naturally lead to sales because then there's a deeper level of rapport. People more open to expressing their needs or finding someone else who is when you're not so attached to making a sale to a particular person or even through a particular piece of media.
And I just worked with a group of businesses at the Southeastern Chamber of Commerce program. I was doing some coaching and we had the businesses on the hot seat. And man, it is awesome to see these people grow. And this is one of the kind of points that came up with that, but you're making me think too, some advice I was giving some of them specifically is, Hey, when you're posting on social media, why aren't you featuring your customers?
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The transcript is lightly edited for clarity and is a partial transcript- the full interview is on audio. Click here to listen.
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