161: Attracting Influencers with Cloris Kylie

Being a positive magnet to many people means you have something great and impactful to offer them. Cloris Kylie, a master marketer with a bestselling book and a powerful podcast with Network and YouTube, teaches us the steps on how to become an influencer and how to deliver the biggest impact to your target audience. Going deep into the tactics that will help you reveal your true magnificence, she explains what borrowed influence, value proposition, and CRM systems are all about. Discover your potential through this episode as Cloris reminds us to awaken our inner knowledge so we can have the power to influence and change the world.

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Attracting Influencers with Cloris Kylie

I am delighted that you joined me on this episode. We have an amazing guest to share with you, so turn off your phone, stay focused and lean in as we dive into another expert master class from an industry leader who can’t wait to share. She is a master marketer with a bestselling book and a powerful podcast with network television and YouTube sites with millions of viewers. She goes deep into tactics and helps you reveal your true magnificence. Welcome, Cloris Kylie, to the show.

Thank you, Mitch. It’s such a pleasure to be here.

Cloris and I met in a mastermind and I admired her brilliance. Here we are now talking for the first time and I’m thrilled to have the opportunity, Cloris, because you truly have shared some amazing things, I’m anxious to share what you know with our audience. Let’s get started. Tell me a little bit how all this began for you.

Mitch, I’ve been a business owner since 2003 and it wasn’t what I planned to do because I have a background in engineering. I went for my MBA Marketing. My plan at the time was to go up the corporate rank and to do well in a corporation. That’s what my goal was. The job that I was at had felt more like a prison than the ideal job that I always wanted. I started to feel like more and more restricted, more and more that I wanted something different. I left the company in hopes of finding something that was more aligned with what I wanted to do again in the corporate world. While I was looking for that dream job, I was going to the gym and a friend of mine at the gym said, “Cloris, why don’t you help my daughter with calculus? She needs help and you’re an engineer.” I said, “I’ll do it.”

All I did is look for jobs all day so I’d be more than happy to do that. I did that. The girl is fantastically well and my friend said, “You should start a business doing this. You’re so good at it.” I said, “Forget it.” The more I thought about it, the more exciting it seemed to be. It’s like, “I could have my own business.” I put a little ad in the paper and I started to connect with the guidance counselors and the people I knew from the community who knew teachers, who knew people at the schools. I started to have more and more students and this business grew. I expanded to become an academic coach to help students move on to college or even grad school. I had people who went for an MBA at Harvard. It expanded. I hired a roster of tutors and enjoyed that business.

Cloris, I wanted to mention that I don’t recommend what you did to readers because it’s a bit risky. Readers have probably heard me say this before. If you’re working a corporate job or any job right now and your dream is to have your own business, then what I’m requesting of you, readers, is to work at least half-a-day every day and show up for your business after hours. Half-day is twelve hours. You get up, you go to work, that’s eight hours, you come home and now you have four more hours before you go to sleep. Get rid of Dancing With the Stars and sit down and work on your business every night for four hours. Go out there and whatever you need to do, whatever your business is and start generating revenue, start building your infrastructure. When you’ve begun to replace your income, that’s when you can give notice. Cloris, do you understand and agree with what I’m saying? You did it a little differently than that.

I did it differently, I agree. If you have a partner, a spouse who is willing to support you as you go through this transition, then go for it. Otherwise, then yes, I definitely suggest that you have a source of income before you start your business. It worked well for me though and as I was having this business, my life changed. I wrote this personal development book because I wanted to empower people. At the time, my calling was to help people reveal their magnificence. Believe it or not, it still is. It’s just in a slightly different way. I decided to do this. I wanted to empower people and I thought that being online and having a presence online will help me reach many more people. I decided to start a business doing that alongside my other business.

Soon enough, I felt like all this time was taken away from my previous business and I was not making any progress with this new business. I published my book. I only have a few readers bought it. I had a blog that I was working on hard and I would only get maybe 30 readers a month for the blog. I had a radio show. It was a live radio show where I would give my opinion on a book and lessons that I had learned. I had a few listeners. I was wondering, “What’s wrong with me?” In the meantime, I’m losing clients, I’m losing income from my other business and this is not working. What’s happening? I would say if I had to choose a low point in this whole journey would be that one because I started to doubt myself. I started to doubt my own ability to continue with this business that I felt was my true calling and I wanted to move away from the other business. I would say I expected things to work out because I was working hard and because I had a powerful message to share. That’s not the way it is.

It’s not that way for most of us, Cloris. I can’t tell you how many times I started something and took it to completion even as I was struggling to get it to completion. I was determined to do that. I launched it with much enthusiasm and high hopes only to have it completely fail. When we look at people that we admire, all we see is their success. We talk about these guys came up right quickly. It’s almost like they just came on the scene and they were successful. Like you and I, if you’d dig a little deeper, you’ll find out that they’ve spent decades building to where they are now and just like us, many failures. I know that I’m speaking the same language as most of our readers who have been through much of the process that you described. What tips can you give people for overcoming the way that their mind works in some cases, the way their mind attacks them when everything isn’t going exactly right?

At some point, you need to take a step back and instead of working blindly on what’s next on that task list, think about, “What am I doing? What am I spending my time on? Is this the right avatar or niche market to focus on? Is this the right business model?” Sometimes we want to do something one way and we set our goal to be that way and work blindly. We’re doing busy work and not getting any results. At the time, I was so burnt out. I remember waking up and saying, “I’m done. I’m going to quit this and go back to my other business.” Something stopped me and that something was a burning desire I had to reach more people. I wanted to share this message. I took the day off. That day I dropped all my appointments, went to the coast, which is not that far from where I live, probably it is about an hour ride. I remember walking on the beach and the more I walked, the more I could see the solution. It’s interesting because that day was foggy.

When I first got there, it was very early and it was foggy, so you couldn’t even see maybe twenty feet in front of you, which is so foggy. The more I walked, the more ideas started to come to my head, the more the fog, the actual fog around me cleared. I’ll never forget that day. At the end of the long walk that probably lasted over three hours, the fog had completely cleared and I’m not kidding you. That’s the way it happened. I felt just so much better with renewed energy to do things differently to go back to the drawing board to see what was working to see and that’s how things started to change. If you’re at that point that you’re not sure what to do next, instead of trying to do busy stuff that makes you busy and not allow you to receive those answers, take the time to rethink all the things you’re doing. To list all the activities you’re spending your time on and to reassess things and to reassess things and take a little bit of time off and you’ll see how ideas come to your mind.

Readers, Cloris says if you’ve got a problem, go to the beach. That’s what you do. Something is created almost metaphorically when the fog lifted. The fog lifted for you too. Here’s the interesting thing to me about what you said. It’s getting away from your day-to-day and just seeing what emerges from your mind in a sense because that’s what’s going on. It’s your mind that stopping you from realizing your true potential, particularly at that early stage when nothing seems to be working. It’s a great story and I’m thrilled that you were able to share that with us. What I want to do next course is I’d like for you to tell us a little bit about this business that you were so excited to build and where you’re at with that now.

One of the ideas that came to mind and I was becoming that radar out there for new ideas I could implement in my business is that I needed to collaborate with people. I’ve always been very independent, so I wanted to do it all on my own. I had zero connections in the industry and digital marketing. I didn’t know anyone. One of the things I did was to start building connections, people who were on my own level, who were starting out, but also people who were not just one, two, three but ten steps ahead influencers. The more I connected with these influencers, not only the newer people and new connections I started to get and the more I became also an authority in my field just because I invited them to my podcast. I posted my content on their websites, all of that. Also, I started to see myself succeeding. I think that is so critical because when you hang out with these people who have been so successful and they started like you and you see, “This is possible for me too.”

You said something that I think a lot of people need to know. You were effectively a beginner, but when you started hanging out with influential people, people said to themselves, “She must be influential too.” It turned you into an expert and it’s the old act as if you’re not there yet. Make believe until you are. In your case, just by becoming familiar with these people and building relationships relatively quickly, you became an expert, didn’t you?

Exactly, yes. That is a very important aspect of this whole thing is to borrow an influence. If you invite somebody to be on your podcast, if you are on their shows, if they publish your content, if you meet them at a conference you have in your scene with them, yes. Things start to change for you. That’s what happened to me. Once again, because I was able to see a solution, I was able to see myself as capable of doing this then I acted. I took action. I continued to meet influential people and then my business rapidly grew after that.

That walk on the beach was a pretty profitable move on your part.

Yes, I guess it was.

That’s a non-intuitive act that you took part because people wouldn’t start out by saying, “I need to make some extra money. I think I’ll go to the beach.” What this all comes down to is you had the insight to be external to your own problems and this is a very important tool key, if you will, to unlocking your own genius and your own creativity no matter what you do. You shared your story and I love what you said. It all seems to play together in a very interesting way. Let’s go one step further. If I wanted to follow your path, how would I become an influencer? What do I do? What are the steps?

It’s not as difficult as you might think. One of the main objections that I hear from people is, “I’m starting out. I don’t have a huge following. I don’t have a huge list or a huge business. How can I connect with influencers?” The first step is to realize that if you are able to deliver value to an influencer and no matter where you are in your journey, you can, then you can start a relationship and to deliver value. This is the first step. That starts with something as simple as writing a heartfelt note to that influencer saying how they have changed your life, how their message has changed your life. That’s how I originally connected with Dr. Wayne Dyer. He was a top influencer but in the end you have to think, “How is Wayne going to help me grow my business?”

I just said this is how he has impacted my life. He inspired the book I’m writing, so I’m going to let him know. I’m going to tell him how his teachings have helped me. I didn’t even expect to get a reply, but I was surprised to check my mailbox a couple of weeks later and get a letter from him coming from Maui saying that he appreciated my work. He wanted to meet me in person because he was going to New York City to be a speaker of that conference. We met in person. He became a mentor and he was instrumental in my ability to stay on track just because of that spiritual strength that I gained by having him. I’m very grateful but it started with that. It’s a simple letter. I delivered value to somebody who had inspired me. I would say the whole value proposition yet, delivering value to influencers is key as long as it comes from the heart. You’ve got to select the people you want to connect with very carefully because they have to be people you truly admire and the people you will eventually want to collaborate with.

This was all done somewhat innocently on your part. You didn’t have a plan in place that said, “I’m going to write Wayne and then he’ll write me back and then I’ll ask him to be my mentor.” All these things unfolded because it started in your heart. It started with a genuine desire to express admiration. Admiration is the universal solvent. Admiration changes everything. Readers, all you need to do is find somebody and truly admire them. Let them know. Maybe the same thing might happen for you too, as it’s happened for Cloris and for me as well. That’s a great tip. Step one is doing an internal survey. Figure out who it is that you truly admire. Get to know them even better and then let them know what you admire about them. Not just, “I’m a big fan, by the way. I love your work. Good job.” “Thanks.” You talk about the book. You talk about whatever it was that influenced you and share with them that you did digest their content and their message so they know that you’re coming from a genuine place.

What follows through like many people do something like this or they do something else, for example, they comment on an influencer’s blog post or they share their podcast or something like that and they leave it at that. They say, “We didn’t work out. We didn’t create a connection or friendship.” You have to stack value on top of value. Once you have that first outreach, you have to keep doing this because you care about the person. As you said, you have to know this influencer. Subscribe to their email updates and you will know what’s happening in their world. Follow them on social media. If they have a product or program, join it and be an active student rather than participating in the group if they have a Facebook group and then you will see how else you can deliver value, many other ways.

For example, you could write a testimonial for them, a video testimonial. You could review their book, preview their podcast. There are many ways you can deliver value to these influencers. The more you do this, the more you will stand out. You will become that person that all of a sudden, they want to help just because you’ve been so helpful. There’s something I’ve experienced so many times in my own business. For example, Melonie Dodaro, she is considered the number one LinkedIn expert in Canada. I enjoyed her content. I still do. Every time she posted a blog post once a week, I will be there sharing that blog post, adding a comment is left and right tagging Melonie. She’d be like, “Thank you.” Weeks went by about six months, I said, “I would love to have Melonie on my podcast.”

I reached out to her via LinkedIn and I think it was less than 30 minutes. She got back to me, “Yes, I would love to be on your show.” When we were doing the recording, she said, “Cloris, I don’t give interviews anymore. I’m just at a level in my business. I don’t have time but when I saw the message from you, I just had to say yes. I couldn’t say no. You’ve been the greatest supporter.” We continue this friendship and she helped me when I published my book. It’s just another story of how when you deliver value with the desire to help that influencer, it will come back to you in many situations.

Readers, we are talking to Cloris Kylie and she is a master at influence and her message is simple, deliver value to those who influence you, who you truly admire then stack value on top of value. Join their program, follow them on social media and even record a testimonial or review their book. Thank you, Cloris. So far, this has been very helpful. What are the next steps? You described almost extreme ways of adding value. To scale that type of a program, you must use some tools, some social media tools, some database tools or CRM systems. Can you give us a hint as to how you turn this? What might be a genuine admiration and almost a casual act into something much more deliberate?

The first step is you have to stay organized and use tools. There’s Pipedrive or whatever tool that you would want to use to keep track of your connections. At the same time, it’s important to note that this is not about connecting with a thousand influencers. It’s about having that small circle of supporters and allies who can be with you in the long-term and who can introduce you to other influencers. If you asked me, “Cloris, how many people are in that closed circle of connections?” There are about 30 people right now and no more. These are the people I stay in touch with all the time, people I deliver value constantly. I keep track of what they have going on, the latest things that they’re doing, the last time we talked.

I would say if I had to keep close track of a connection, they would be them. There are other people in my network who I appreciate, but I don’t spend all that time supporting them because I’m focusing on the quality of this small group of connections rather than on the quantity. That’s why it’s important that you select who you resonate with the most and then decide the objective. What is your short-term and long-term objective in regard to collaborating with this person? For example, my short-term objective might be to appear on an influencer’s podcast or to have them as a guest on your show. You establish the relationship. You nurture that and you deliver value but what’s next? What is it that you want to do? Would you like to do a JV webinar with an influencer? Would you like to have this amazing blog, then you write? I guess both. It depends on how large of an audience this has. Your long-term and short-term objectives will change.

Think of long-term objectives as high forms of collaboration. Suggest joint venture partnerships, maybe having one of your programs be a bonus of the program, maybe them sending you the direct referrals with, you’ll have many influencers who send me referrals, but their relationship has to be much more mature. If you have this clear in your mind, then you will be much more deliberate in your actions. I would say it’s important for you to be ready for this. Let’s say that an influencer says, “Yes, I’d love to do a JV Webinar with you.” The webinar hasn’t been optimized or they have you as a guest on their podcast and you don’t have a system to build your list. You don’t have your lead magnet ready for that influencer. All your efforts will not pan out into tangible results. It’s important that you’re ready. It’s important that you’re deliberate and that you focus on a selected group of influencer connections.

It’s all good advice, but I do have a question I wanted to ask you about because if a reader would get so excited about what you’re saying, there’s got to be a line between being a stalker, even being a little creepy about it. Frankly, I’ve had people follow me and there are several times I’ve blocked people on Facebook because they do seem to all day long was telling me how great I am or follow my posts or comments. That last thing I’d ever want to do is talk to this individual. Where is that line and how do you find it?

Let’s say if you are ever messaging an influencer every day and saying how great they are and so forth, then you’ve crossed the line because then you ask yourself, “Am I doing this truly because I feel that because I want to deliver value to the influencer or because I want them to notice me?” When you are doing this for your own purpose just to be noticed, then you cross the line. For example, you have your family members and you have all their birthdays on your calendar. When it’s their birthday, you call them up and sing happy birthday or you send a card. You do it because you care about them. You’re not trying to win points or anything. You care about them.

The same thing happens with influencers. If you start an email or what an action and you say, “This is going to be great. They’re going to notice me and then I’m going to invite them to do this webinar,” and then you have that ulterior motive and people can read through that. I would say start with that mindset that I’m creating here a positive relationship. I want to help this person. I know we can help each other and I’m working toward that rather than, “What’s in it for me?” and overdo it.

What you’re talking about is having true intent and having honest, true intents. Ideally, if you approach life, what’s in it for me? What am I going to get out of this? Otherwise, I have no interest that’s what your life is going to be like, readers. I think what Cloris is telling us in my way of saying it is genuine. Be genuinely interested in the people that you want to be an influencer to you. If you don’t happen to like them or you don’t admire their work, even though they might be able to help you along the way, I would suggest not being an influencer or in this case, you’re trying to connect with them because it won’t feel genuine to them.

That you will see as you expand your network and meet influencers, you might realize after a while that they don’t share your values. There’s something there that you didn’t know about them and that’s okay. You know that the whole point is to get to know each other in a more personal level to grow that connection and you might realize that is not the best connection for you and that’s okay. You can move on. You have to be very well-aware of how you feel, of your own values, of what you stand for and always approach things with integrity and just doing what’s best for you and your business.

Have you ever started a process on someone new that you would like to put into your influencer world and have them object or have them ask you to stop or any of that?

No, not really. When I deliver value is because I know it’ll be of value to the person. If I’m out there and saying, “You’re great, this is great,” I find that annoying if people do that and not authentic. If I know that the person just published a book and I go and publish a review to help them out with that. If they have a podcast, I post review the podcast. If they’re having a program and I have room in my promo calendar and I should help them promote the program, I’m delivering true value. It’s a matter of asking yourself what matters most to this person right now and can I help with that? Sometimes they’re not focused on their book. They’re focused on something else. What can you do today to deliver value to that person in a way that matters to them? Remember, the value is in the eye of the beholder. What would they find most valuable and then spend your time on that? It is your time. If you’re going to be spending two hours a day posting comments and expressing how influencers are valuable, that’s not a good use of your time.

You’re not delivering any value and people are sick of dealing with what might be called false praise. You make a good point. I want to share with you the experience of when I’ve done what you instructed. There was a guy out there who was an amazing individual, written several books. I admired him. His name is Cameron Herold. I got a copy of his book. I think it was called Free PR. I think that was the name of the book. I wrote the longest, most in-depth review of his book that he had ever had and posted it on Amazon. I sent him a little note on social media and said, “Cameron, I want to let you know I reviewed your book. I loved it. Thank you for writing it. It’s going to influence a lot of my own actions and my clients as well.”

That became a template for me. We started a friendship there and to this day, we are friends and I love the fact that you can do this so easily. It truly levels the playing field between you and the influencer world, let’s put it that way. I also can’t wait to dive into your book. I have not read it yet. I liked to read books before a show, but in this case, I didn’t get a chance. Now I’m even more excited about reading it. We’ll report back later on how all that works for me. I do have a question for you and this is a question I like to ask. Every one of my guests and readers knows I do this all the time. It’s a simple question but it helps me and listeners understand a little bit more about you. Who, in all of space and time, would you like to have one hour to enjoy your walk in the park, a quick lunch or an intense conversation with?

I would love to spend some time with Marcus Lemonis. I don’t know if you’re familiar with his work, Mitch.

Yes.

I feel like he has so much wisdom as he helps small business owners and I would love to talk to him about his experiences. I love The Profit. They’re inspiring and it’s all about dealing with all the mindset issues that people have and the family dynamics. I find it fascinating.

I do too and what fascinates me most is how he deals with people. If you’ve watched the show as I have, you’ll recognize the story. There were times when on television and after signing a document, people lie to him and not only do they lie, but they don’t hold up their end of the bargain or they try and wiggle out of it later. I can’t imagine being the person who does this. On top of that, having been featured on primetime television, that’s got to be so unbelievable, yet he is a class act. He handles it with aplomb, he’s smart, he’s generous, but he’s firm and he’s tough as well. I think that’s a great choice. I do appreciate him a lot. I’m glad you mentioned him.

Check out an inside look of those episodes when he talks about what he was thinking and as he was filming, I think is also fascinating.

Readers, these are tips that all of us could use. If you don’t watch this show, if you don’t watch Shark Tank, besides being incredibly entertaining, watch them. You’re going to pick up information. You’re going to pick up tips. You’re going to learn about business from those who truly do it every single day. I’m so grateful to be able to get access to these types of shows as well. I think it’s a great choice and I think that was a good answer. The next question, Cloris, the grand finale, the change the world question. What is it that you are doing or would like to do that truly has the potential to literally change the world?

I would love to help people see their potential. I think if everybody realized that they have a gift, no matter what their background is or their education or where they live as they believed in themselves, I think the world would be a much better place. That’s why I say you always have to reveal your magnificence. It starts with your ability to see your magnificence. Sometimes it’s easy to say they’re smarter than me or they have more money than me. What do I have to offer? We all have a gift and we know it. It’s all about awakening that knowledge that lies inside of us.

How do we do that? The words are nice and it’s a great suggestion, but what happens if I don’t even know what my magnificence is? Maybe I think I do, but maybe I’m not in the place now where even recognizing it is possible. Maybe I’ve been trying and failing at business for years. How do I know what my magnificence is?

I think it starts by asking yourself, “When did someone say thank you to me? Why did that happen? What did I do that they appreciate it? When did I feel uplifted and elevated when I interacted with somebody?” Those are the moments that you have to be aware of because maybe it’s something that you do well, that you are not aware of. You take it for granted. It’s your gift. You do it every day, but people find that favor or they appreciate it. They say thank you, I hadn’t thought of that. I think it’s used by paying close attention to the feedback you get and also by tuning in to your own feelings when you do something, when you feel elevated, that you want to do more of it. When people say “Thank you,” when people seek you for a special reason, that is probably related to your gift and I’m sure you’d have many of them. It’s a matter of selecting one of them to start with and to find a way to share it with more people.

I agree with everything that you said and it’s all important. There’s one other thing that comes before all of that. I’m speaking to you. If you have any of the feelings that I know I had when I first started and those feelings are, “I’m not worthy. I’m not worth it. I don’t know what I’m doing and everybody else does because they’re successful and I’m not.” If you have any of those feelings, if you identify in any level with what I just said, what Cloris has described is a great way to start building your appreciation list. This is different than what other people tell you. Other people have told you, build a list of all the things you appreciate and that will make you feel good. I’m telling you to build an appreciation list just like Cloris’.

I’m telling you to build it of what you’ve heard from others, what they appreciate about you even if you don’t believe it, even if you think for some reason there is a motive. I want you to write down all of the things that people have ever told you. Anytime you get a compliment, you write it down. I was lucky enough to get a compliment from one of our own mastermind members and he had done something which I find to be remarkable and unusual. He read my book and step-by-step implemented my entire program just by reading the book. He never asked me a question. He never called to tell me or ask about a thing or whatever it is. He just did it. I got to tell you, it made me feel just so good.

It also reminded me that, “I got some pretty good stuff out there.” He read my book called Power Tribes and from that, he built his coaching and certification program. I said, for heaven’s sakes, this is what I want for everybody who reads the book. It made me feel good, but it also stood out to me as a reminder that I have value and other people realize it. Readers, I want you to do the same. Cloris, you have some pretty cool giveaways here. I’d like for you to share them with our readers. Tell me what your gift is.

I have a bonus package that comes with my book and it is a series of templates to reach out to influencers. If they are podcasters or bloggers, have your media appearances and then connect with the owners of these platforms as well as additional training to connect with influencers and to write a testimonial for them. How do you do it? I have a template for that. I think it’s super valuable and if you’ll see it, you can get the book. I’m doing a re-launch of the updated version of the book. It’s on sale now so you can get the book and the bonus package.

I will tell you one thing that struck me when you said that. I am going to download your gift for one important reason. I ask for testimonials and I’ve always wanted a better formula than the one I have now. I have a feeling you may have figured that out. I’m going to download your bonus packages and I’m going to R&D your exact template as to how to ask for a testimonial. You know what R&D means right?

Yeah, research and development, right?

No, Rip-off and Deploy. I’m going to rip-off your genius and deploy it myself. Readers, I recommend you do the same. Thank you so much for appearing on the show. Readers, run out there and get that book. The name of the book is Beyond Influencer Marketing. Is that right?

Yes, Beyond Influencer Marketing, because we’re going beyond one-time transactions, we want long-term connections with influencers.

Thanks, Cloris. We’ll talk again soon.

Thanks so much, Mitch.

Important Links

• Cloris Kylie
• Pipedrive
• Free PR
• The Profit
• Power Tribes
• Beyond Influencer Marketing
• https://www.BeyondInfluencerMarketing.com/bonuses?affiliate_id=1840877
• https://Amzn.to/2ZsPXq7

• Here’s How »

• mitchrusso.com
• Mitch Russo LinkedIn