Transcript: Thanks, Allan. This is David Brower and Your 20 Minute Podcast. Our special guest today from Chicago is Brian Basilico. He’s an award-winning author of the best-selling book It’s Not About You, It’s About Bacon, relationship marketing in a social media world. He is honored as one of the top marketers to follow in 2018. He’s an online marketing strategist who brings over 40 years of marketing experience to his award-winning internet marketing company, B2B Interactive Marketing Inc. He’s a syndicated blogger, podcaster, and sought after guest, featured on Entrepreneur and Ink Magazines. In fact, his podcast, The Bacon podcast on iTunes, also voted one of Ink Magazine’s top 35 business podcasts.
DAVID BROWER: Brian, welcome to the show, man. I’m exhausted from reading your bio.
BRIAN BASILICO: David, thank you so much, man. It’s a pleasure to talk with you.
DAVID BROWER: Thank you. Good to have you here. So, you’re a speaker. Where you been? Who you been speaking to?
BRIAN BASILICO: I’ve been speaking all over the country to a lot of conferences on internet marketing, social media marketing, those kinds of things. I also teach locally at colleges. I talk a lot about basically the ultimate basics of marketing online and how it all basically goes back to the principles that we’ve learned before the internet ever existed. That’s what I focus on.
DAVID BROWER: And that’s relationships?
BRIAN BASILICO: Exactly.
DAVID BROWER: Right?
BRIAN BASILICO: Yep.
DAVID BROWER: I mean, everything, for generations and generations, everybody’s always said, “Dude, it’s about relationships.” Of course, that was before dude. But yeah, it’s always about relationships. So, the title of your book really caught my attention for two reasons. One, bacon. And then the other is relationship marketing. So, tell us about that. Tell us about … I guess first of all, tell us about how bacon is a part of your branding.
BRIAN BASILICO: Well, absolutely. Bacon is … I used to work at AT&T years and years ago. Everything had an acronym. It was you didn’t go to the bathroom, you went to the LBR, LGR, which stood for Little Boy’s Room, Little Girl’s Room. So when I started writing the book, I started writing a how-to book on social media that became obsolete by the time I got to chapter three because it changes so fast. When I refocused, I figured it was about relationships. One of my friends suggested the word bacon because it was something I was posting a lot on social media. I took it and ran with it. Actually bacon is an acronym. It stands for building authentic relationships online networking. And that’s what it’s for.
DAVID BROWER: Nice.
BRIAN BASILICO: Yeah, thank you.
DAVID BROWER: That’s cool. I love that. I mean, coming from a world of acronyms to come up with bacon as an acronym for what you do, that’s freakin brilliant, dude. That’s awesome.
BRIAN BASILICO: Thank you, sir. Thank you.
DAVID BROWER: Yeah, that’s awesome.
BRIAN BASILICO: So, it all boils down to is we were talking before. Back when I first started in 1979, I mean you’re in the VO business. I was in the recording studio business. And in 1979, there was no internet. There was no email marketing. There was no anything. But I was doing content marketing back then. I was actually on an Atari 400 computer and a Dot Matrix printer, printing out stories on how to record better or how to utilize your time, put them into articles, and cut and paste them on an 11 by 17 sheet of paper, folded it over, sent it out to a printer, and sent that out to all of my customers.
DAVID BROWER: My gosh. You were way ahead of the curve, I mean seriously.
BRIAN BASILICO: Oh yeah.
DAVID BROWER: I mean, content marketing back in those days, nobody even talked about that.
BRIAN BASILICO: Yeah, but that was something that I naturally felt I needed to do.
DAVID BROWER: Nice.
BRIAN BASILICO: Then obviously technology and things caught up with us. So those principles that I was doing back then are exactly what people do now, but they use different tools. They’re using email marketing programs and social media and video and podcasts, and all of it is the same stuff. It’s how do you take your knowledge and basically transfer it in the back of somebody’s head. But nowadays we use the USB plug-in into the back of their head, as opposed to a piece of paper. So it’s really about those kind of principles, which is the foundation of successful online marketing.
DAVID BROWER: So, the relationship piece never changes, no matter what you’re doing, from your folded over stick it in the mail to slap it on a USB. That piece of it never changes. I don’t believe it ever changes in any kind of work. I mean, any successful business has got to have some relationships going on. Is your relationship marketing in a social media world, because the technology changes so fast, are there things you have to keep up with, or does the relationship piece never change?
BRIAN BASILICO: Well, the relationship piece never changes, but the problem is, is that we all tend to fall into the category of BSOS, which is bright shiny object syndrome. You see it, I see it all the time. It’s like, all you’ve got to do is go on Instagram and you’ll immediately get 100000 followers, and all these people will send you money. All you’ve got to do is get on YouTube and do this. It’s all of these tactics. But what everybody’s looking for is the quick fix. They want the easy button. But in reality is, and I say this in my speeches, you wouldn’t walk into a bar and tap somebody on the shoulder and say, “Hey I know I just met you, but do you want to get married?” But unfortunately that’s the way a lot of people treat social media marketing, they treat email marketing.
BRIAN BASILICO: It’s like just get them on your list and send them your pitch. One out of 1000 people may respond, and that’s good enough for most people, but I’m more of the mindset is I’d rather take the time to get to know somebody to figure out how I could help them, and then over the course of that time, they’re either going to do business with me, they’re gonna recommend me, or I just become a part of their life in a way that I could be a resource to them. It’s one of those three camps, but it’s not a quick fix. It’s something that takes energy. It takes time, and it takes a strategy, is what it boils down to.
DAVID BROWER: Absolutely. I think one of the things that contributes to what you were just talking about is we’re all after that immediate gratification. I mean, we’re driving through Wendy’s, we’re driving through liquor stores for crying out loud. I mean, we want it and we want it now. So, the silver bullet of 50 years ago is still the same. They’re just doing it in a different way.
BRIAN BASILICO: Right. Very much so.
DAVID BROWER: Wow, fascinating. How long have you been doing this? How long is your online marketing? How long is your relationship marketing in a social media world? How long has that piece going around for you?
BRIAN BASILICO: Well, I started my venture into online marketing in … I started this business, the current business, in 2001. In 2004, I was one of the first 1000 people to join LinkedIn, and then over the course of the years, I started teaching people how to use LinkedIn and Facebook and Twitter, all that kind of stuff. Then in 2013 is when I wrote the book. From then, I’ve written a couple other books. One called The Bacon System, which is a 12-step program for those addicted to trying to do it the other way.
DAVID BROWER: Oh my god. No seriously, I just looked up creative in the dictionary and there was a slice of bacon. I’m just saying.
BRIAN BASILICO: Thank you. Well, and the truth is, is that the two most shared things on the internet at any given time is number one, kittens, and number two, bacon.
DAVID BROWER: Exactly. Exactly.
BRIAN BASILICO: So there’s a lot of hidden meaning behind all of this stuff. It really boils down to this. Even today with LinkedIn, you know LinkedIn has been bought by Microsoft. LinkedIn, they make 70% of their revenue on selling jobs. I mean, it’s all about job seekers, job ads. That’s how they make their revenue. 30%, or 25% let’s say. 25% of their revenue has been on premium services, so it’s sales navigated. Then 5% is on advertising. So everybody is either looking for a job or trying to find somebody to connect up with and pitch them. A lot of people don’t understand that if you just go on LinkedIn and you make a connection, say … I call it my 10-10-10 theory. Spend 10 minutes a day, touch 10 people with 10 words. And the 10 words are, “Just wanted to say hi. How can I help you?” If you do that enough on a regular basis, sooner or later people will start to respond back. It’s the simple things that tend to get the biggest results, but it takes time.
DAVID BROWER: Absolutely. Tell me the 10 words again.
BRIAN BASILICO: Sure. It’s just wanted to say hi. How can I help you?
DAVID BROWER: That’s like a new version of the 80-20 rule.
BRIAN BASILICO: It’s built upon that.
DAVID BROWER: Right. Right? Yeah.
BRIAN BASILICO: Exactly.
DAVID BROWER: Because the 80-20 has been around forever, and it’s worked in everything I’ve ever worked in. But the 10-10, that, 10 … Sorry, I left one out. I’m intrigued by that. That’s pretty darn cool, pretty darn innovative.
BRIAN BASILICO: Thank you. Yeah, it’s really just about just reaching out to people and touching them in a way that they’re not used to being connected to because everybody’s into this fast sell. You see it all the time if you’re on LinkedIn. I mean, it’s called the connect and pitch for a reason. Somebody sends you a connection request, and 30 seconds later they send you a stock message that says, “Here’s my greatest stuff. Spend a half hour watching my video. Let’s set up a phone call, so I could sell you my stuff.” It’s like, did you even look at my profile?
DAVID BROWER: Exactly. I did about one-
BRIAN BASILICO: Do you know who I am?
DAVID BROWER: I get probably one or two of those a week, and that’s exactly the question that I ask myself. I write them back, and I said, “According to my profile, we’re not a good fit, but thanks for reaching out.”
BRIAN BASILICO: I get them all the time from various different businesses and people. It’s coaches who are trying to sell me their coaching program, people that want me to join their financial institution.
DAVID BROWER: Oh my god.
BRIAN BASILICO: Like no.
DAVID BROWER: No.
BRIAN BASILICO: So this is the antithesis of that. Try to say that word. Antithesis of that.
DAVID BROWER: Yeah, you go for it. I’m not going there.
BRIAN BASILICO: Thank you, yeah. It’s really about just being there for people, you know servant leadership. It’s about how can I help you. Nine times out of 10, I’m making connections for people. Someone called me today. He’s like, “I can’t get my email on my phone.” Okay, great. That’s not my specialty, but I know three people that do this, three resources. Go do it. Now, did I make a penny on that? No. But when that person needs something, they know that they can count on me, and if somebody says, “I’m looking for somebody who knows social media or wants to learn how to connect on LinkedIn,” who’s the first person they’re gonna call?
DAVID BROWER: Exactly.
BRIAN BASILICO: Hopefully me.
DAVID BROWER: Exactly. Well and the other thing that goes with relationships is referrals. I mean, that’s how you really … That’s where the gold is. It’s not cultivating new customers nearly as much as it is treating the ones that you garner with pride and ownership.
BRIAN BASILICO: Absolutely. Absolutely. And I think one of the most under-utilized pieces of our world is past relationship. One of the things that I … When I work with my clients, when I do one-on-one coaching with clients on how to use different social tools and different systems, but one of the things that I tend to focus on is the first thing I think people should do, is go to … If they’ve been in business for a while, it doesn’t work the same if you’re just starting out. If you’ve been in business for a while, go to your QuickBooks and enter everybody in your QuickBooks who you’ve ever sold anything to, into your CRM or go connect up with them on LinkedIn, whatever your process is. And do the 10-10-10 to them first because chances are they already know, like, and trust you. They may be moved on because of whatever reason, technology, need, job. It could be anything. You never know when those are gonna be the ones that are either gonna refer you or maybe say, “You know what, I really liked working with that person. Let’s do it again.”
BRIAN BASILICO: If you’re just starting out, go back and look at people that you’ve worked with in your past. Like I said, I’ve been running a recording studio since 1979, and I’ve got clients today that I worked with back in 1990 that still come back to me for things, that we’re all in completely different places.
DAVID BROWER: Absolutely.
BRIAN BASILICO: It’s those past relationships are the ones that a lot of people neglect. They’re so busy reaching for the brass ring and the bright shiny object of new prospects and new sales that they often neglect the fact that their past relationships have a heck of a lot more value.
DAVID BROWER: Well and I think sometimes too they short circuit the old relationships because in their mind they’re going, well that guy’s gone on to a different thing, so we’re not connected anymore. When really that’s the farthest thing from the truth. You had a relationship, you can still have a relationship no matter what that guy or gal’s doing.
BRIAN BASILICO: Yeah. And it’s like anything else. It’s not gonna work 100% of the time, but you have a much better chance with that than you do trying to convince somebody who doesn’t know, like, and trust you yet to buy your crap.
DAVID BROWER: Absolutely.
BRIAN BASILICO: I’m sorry.
DAVID BROWER: No, that’s right. Know, like, and trust is the deal. So, let’s talk about your B2B Interactive Marketing. Is that where your life is now for the most part?
BRIAN BASILICO: Well, B2B is like the cornerstone. And obviously the Bacon podcast. I have something called BaconCoach.com. I have something called PerfectLinkedInStrategy.com. The key thing is that it’s built upon … What we can do is talk about the second book just a little bit, and that is The Bacon System. So, the cornerstone of The Bacon System is what I call the marketing trifecta. B2B was built on developing technology, developing websites, Google, Google Analytics, Google Places and all that fun stuff, and content marketing. It’s the services area of what I do. But The Bacon System is built around the marketing trifecta, which is three things. Number one, you have to have a place to land, a killer website, something that you own. You do not own social media. You could post one thing and they could take you down tomorrow, so if you build a business around that, you’re crazy. So, own it. That’s one thing I say, is just buy your name, buy a domain, and build upon that.
BRIAN BASILICO: The second piece of that puzzle is understanding your numbers. I go back to the QuickBooks analogy. That is you’d never run a business without knowing your numbers, but a lot of people try to run online businesses or do things without knowing how to read their Google Analytics and what does that mean. So, understanding your numbers and what’s getting people to your website, what pages they’re going to is super important.
BRIAN BASILICO: The third part of that is content marketing. Create some kind of content, put it up on your website, and measure what’s happening with that, and where is your traffic coming from. For example, it could be this podcast. You have this podcast. You share it on social media. Somehow or another, some people are gonna get back to your website. Some people may listen to it in your podcast delivery system, but you need to measure those things. You could tell the effectiveness of the topic, the guests, and whatever else based on the numbers that you get. From there, you figure out how to do more of what’s working and less of what’s not.
DAVID BROWER: Absolutely.
BRIAN BASILICO: So you do that, that’s the marketing trifecta. Then from there, everything else becomes, okay now how do I create the content and how do I deliver the content. That’s really what the 12-step program is about. The first part of the marketing trifecta. The second piece is creating content. Then the third part is delivering content. One of the things I say about social media, social media is number one, a relationship building tool. Number two, a content delivery platform. And then number three, it’s a sales tool. But a lot of people try to flip that. It works a lot better when you work it in that, you know.
DAVID BROWER: In that particular order, you bet.
BRIAN BASILICO: Right.
DAVID BROWER: So, if people want to reach out to you, take advantage of your skill set, have you referred them to somebody else, what’s the best way to do that?
BRIAN BASILICO: Well, the easiest way to do it is just go into Google, type in Brian Basilico, B-R-I-A-N, Basilico is B-A-S-I-L-I-C-O. You will find me on every platform. You’ll find all my websites, my podcasts. That way you could reach out to me and consume some of the content I have on whatever your favorite platform is, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, everything.
DAVID BROWER: Perfect. The books, It’s Not About You, It’s About Bacon, relationship marketing in a social media world, The Bacon System, sizzling hot recipes that grow your business, and do you have more books coming out?
BRIAN BASILICO: I do have one other book. It’s called Bacon Bits. It’s 101 relationship marketing tips. And I am always working on a new book, but I don’t have titles for them.
DAVID BROWER: In your spare time.
BRIAN BASILICO: Exactly. But one’s on LinkedIn, prospecting and things of that nature, but again it’s all based on the same things we talked about, relationships and technology.
DAVID BROWER: Perfect. Brian, this has been so much fun, so informative. I appreciate your time, man, and congratulations of what you do. I picked up a couple of bacon bits I’m gonna check out. So, very cool. Folks, google Brian Basilico. Again, B-R-I-A-N B-A-S-I-L-I-C-O, Brian Basilico. Then you can connect with him on the social media platform that you’re most comfortable with. Brian, again, congratulations and thanks for the time.
BRIAN BASILICO: David, it’s been a pleasure and an honor. Thank you, sir.
ALLAN BLACKWELL: Listen to Your 20 Minute Podcast with David Brower on the go. Downloads are available on YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, iTunes, I Heart Radio, Spotify, any podcast app, and on our website at DavidBrowerVO.com/your20minutepodcast. Until next time, thank you for listening.