In The Wealth of Connection, I write about the concept of putting people over. The phrase comes from the world of professional wrestling, where the “superstar” agrees to let the “up and comer” win the match, giving the new guy the boost they need to get the crowd to trust and believe in them.
Putting people over is an essential part of the world of business as well.
When we are new, getting a boost from those who are established can lift us to heights unattainable on our own. It introduces us and our work to a new group of people who already trust the “superstar” and their endorsement holds great value. But those endorsements don’t come quickly or easily- these superstars have spent years building trust and relationships and they aren’t going to put someone over if it will ruin that.
In the book, I also wrote about author and speaker John Ruhlin’s idea on a “Five Year Launch.” If you listen to the Total Life Freedom Podcast, you are hearing the updates on my moderated Five Year Launch for this book. Ruhlin and I have been friends for a few years and he endorsed my first book, Freelance to Freedom. In those years, I have watched as his success has skyrocketed with his company and his speaking engagements.
One of the areas that I teach in the book is the concept of The Hour of Giving. It’s a simple one, but one that still surprises people. It’s the practice and discipline of taking at least an hour a day to reach out to people with no expectations, promote others, leave reviews, connect like minded people together and other actions that are all based around giving. Even though the concept is built on generosity and selflessness (because I can be quite selfish!), it is stunning how much I actually receive while doing this.
Within The Hour of Giving, I also make it a practice to personally respond to emails that “influencers” send out. No matter how much we grow, we should always be learning. There will always be people doing things that we want to learn how to do. Even though the “influencers” might have thousands and thousands of followers, it’s interesting how rarely people email back with a genuine, non-pitchy response.
Last Friday, I received the weekly email from Ruhlin’s newsletter. I enjoyed it, like I usually do. I quickly sent him a short note- thanking him for the idea of the Five Year Launch and told him about the version I created for the new book. He responded quickly with a thank you and support for my book and we went on our way.
This Friday, as I was getting ready to go for a walk with our youngest son, I saw Ruhlin’s latest email. The title, a powerful network without spending a lot, caught my attention. As I read on, I noticed a few lines that sounded very familiar. It was right in line with what I had written about in the book. It sounded very Wealth of Connection-y. I read further until he mentioned practicing the five traits in Vincent Pugliese’s fantastic book.
Did I read that right? There it was, a generous endorsement of my book to his entire email audience, with a link to the book.
He just put me over!
It’s moments like those- the big and the small- where we really need to study and understand how these things happen. It wasn’t long before I was getting emails and messages from friends who had read Ruhlin’s email. I try to avoid checking stats on sales, but I came back a few hours later and noticed a considerable jump in sales in all forms of the books- especially the audible version. Invariably, there are going to be people hoping that they can get their book or product featured on his or someone else’s newsletter.
But before anyone starts searching for the magic bullet, understand this. I’ve kept in touch with Ruhlin for more than six years. We met while I was on a zoom call for a different mastermind, and through the years, I made sure to not lose contact. I promoted his work. I made connections between him and others. I did the things I talk about with The Hour of Giving, over a long period of time, with no expectations. I did not cold pitch him asking him to promote me, and I didn’t make soft contact with him to go back shortly with an ask. Over time- if you do the right things- it always works out, one way or another. And often it works out in the most unlikely and unexpected ways.
Being put over like that- especially for a new book- can become a big deal. But it is also a small deal. It’s small, because no matter how big the impact may be, it’s still one small step of a million steps along the way. There is no magic bullet. And anyone who tells you there is, is selling you something that benefits them more than it benefits you.
There are so many points that I can pull out from this to wrap this up. The need to stay in touch. The power of consistency. The value in being generous enough to put others over that need it from you.
But specifically, I will land on this. Reply back to emails from the people you follow. So often, we want to know how to get in touch with these people. They literally are giving you the answer. I will caution- don’t get insulted if they don’t personally respond back. They may have a busy day. They may not see value yet in responding back, depending on the volume that they receive.
But Chase Jarvis, the founder of Creative Live, said it well. He stated that if you respond to his content consistently, over time, he will undoubtedly know who you are. If you are a long term thinker, do you need a better validation than that?
And who knows? Once you bring your creation to the world, they might be the same people that promote it to their entire audience.
Vincent
I’ll be back next week!
In the meantime, I love adding options that can be a help to you!
1- I offer the audio version of my first book, Freelance to Freedom, absolutely free here. I was honored to have amazing people like Seth Godin and Pat Flynn to endorse
2- Grab a copy of my new book, The Wealth of Connection here.
3- If you are looking for an amazing community of business owners to work through the loneliness of entrepreneurship, build amazing connections and create that business that provides you time, money and location freedom, check it out The Total Life Freedom Mastermind Community here.
