377- How to Remain Authentic While Networking with Kurt Kleidon

Lori Highby 0:04

Hey everybody, Lori Highby here. Welcome to the Social Capital podcast. Our show notes are found at social capital podcast.com. To you the listener, I want you to know that I appreciate you and I'm thrilled to have you here for another episode. If there's ever anything that I can do to support you, please reach out. That being said LinkedIn is the channel that you'll find me on just search for Lori Highby you can simply click the Follow button, as I post daily information about marketing strategy tips, all podcast episodes, and maybe an upcoming event that I might be at. If you'd like to connect, make sure to send a note with your connection requests that references social capital. I can't wait to hear from you. Learn more at Keystone Click.com The topic of relationships ties in very closely with marketing. That's why I'm bringing on marketing experts with a variety of backgrounds for you to learn and grow from. Today's guest is Kurt Klein good. Let's see Kurt is the president of Kleidon Associates, a marketing communications agency in Akron, Akron, Akron, Akron, Ohio, Kurt has more than 15 years of experience in marketing, branding and media relations. He also has experience as the founding editor of an arts and entertainment magazine editor and as a college professor. In his professional capacity, Kurt focuses on marketing strategy and helping his clients find the right balance between digital opportunities and traditional marketing efforts. With a background in storytelling, he truly enjoys developing new ways to convey a message within all the possibilities that are possible in social media and digital marketing. As the host of his own podcast 343, which I've been on, Kurt interviews business owners on tips and tricks that have helped them build a successful business. Kurt is avid about his volunteer work at the eighth grade area and has a passion for helping organizations that aim to improve the lives of children currently serves on the board of a local arts organization that helps artists establish a state sustainable brand and business model. He's a published writer and photographer with more than 100 articles and photos that have appeared in print in various magazines and journals. Kurt, welcome to the show.

Kurt Kleidon 2:24

Thanks, Lori. I'm happy to be here.

Lori Highby 2:26

I am excited to have you here to hopefully I did'nt butcher Akron, Akron.

Kurt Kleidon 2:31

It's an Akron and don't let LeBron James hear that. Yeah, Akron, Ohio.

Lori Highby 2:41

All right. I felt like as soon as I said it that I was saying it wrong. So that's my own fault. Okay, well, let's dive into it. So when does on brand come off as artificial when networking?

Kurt Kleidon 2:57

Yeah, so we work with a lot of different clients on figuring out what is what is their brand? Where should they be positioned. And sometimes when people think about branding, they think just about maybe the visuals of a brand. But of course, everything that comes with that includes things like mission statements and vision statements and lots a lot of different wording that goes along with it as well. And part of that is elevator speeches. And we talk about networking, and how do you how do you keep your branding, feel both on brand but feel authentic, as opposed to just reciting an elevator speech? So what I the way I put it here is that I think that an elevator speech really has to match the person who's saying it. So it's like, Have you ever heard like a muscle car drive by you know, that sound? And you're like, okay, even if some of that's something that's really loud and something in the background, right, yeah. So whenever you hear that, you know, you look and you're expecting to see, you know, maybe a Dodge Charger or something that you know, a muscle car. But you know, what, if you heard that sound, and you looked and you saw, I don't know, maybe like a 20 year old Subaru totally mismatches, what you're expecting, right? And if you think about that, with networking, there's nothing wrong with being that loud car if that's kind of a metaphor for maybe that elevator speech. There's nothing wrong with being a 20 year old Subaru either, but they don't necessarily match. So I think it's really important that when you think about how you're talking about, maybe you yourself what you do, or your company, that that really matches how you present yourself because that's really important to come for people to make that feel natural. So when you're thinking about when you think about the elevator speech and sometimes love one of our clients, we write that for them, and you're getting to recite that and just make sure that that matches the M image that you're presenting, but also who you're speaking to as well. You think about that same metaphor, it's a, it's a muscle car. And it sounds like the most car looks like a muscle car. But it's, let's say, you know, at a somber event, well, you can't necessarily come with that same presentation for that. So think about making sure that all those brand elements that have worked so meticulously created, match how you're presenting it and who you're presenting it to.

Lori Highby 5:31

Yeah, no, I think that's great, great advice to share. I think that definitely is important. And I agree with you, 100%, that you, you want to come off and you want to show your authentic self, you don't you don't really want to be positioned as as false or artificial.

How can audience preparation help you tell an inauthentic yet on brand storing a story, let's say at a networking event?

Kurt Kleidon 6:00

Yeah, well, so let me ask you, Lord used to when you are about to go to a networking event? Or do you do any kind of preparation yourself? Do you have any kind of things that you do to get ready? Or do you just kind of go into it and just see what happens?

Lori Highby 6:14

I think it depends on if I've been to that group or type of event before or not. If this is the first time I'm at an event, I'll definitely do a little homework about what what to expect from like, what should I dress? How should I dress which I wear? Is this a sit down? Is it a mingos? Like a structured event? Is it more of a kind of a loosey goosey event from you just kind of casual conversation? Yeah, it depends on if I've been there before or not, I guess.

Kurt Kleidon 6:46

Yeah, yeah. Well, that makes a lot of sense. And I, what I've seen in right now we can look and look at networking events as the traditional or virtual I wouldn't. There's plenty of learning experiences where you can meet other people, and but it's not in person. But I think you know, either way, there are, there's usually about three types of people that you meet at these type of events. The first one and probably the most common, is when a case you're meeting someone for the first time. And it's it's a kind of an organic, natural learning opportunity. So you find out about what they do, they find out what you do. And that's when the whole elevator speech and in talking about what you do, that comes into play, so that that person is friendly enough to find out what little bit more about you. And I said, Let's get dressed, usually the most common type of people, you'd find it those type of events. But there's a second type here that I'm sure you've run across this, that they either only talk about themselves, or they never asked questions about you. Sometimes they're just too shy to ask those questions. And sometimes, well, they really want to express who they are. And I think that my tip when you when you have that type of person you're working with is that you don't necessarily need to talk about yourself or your company to be on brand. Sometimes it's the questions you ask that can help shape who you are, how you represent yourself, how you position yourself as a person. So even when you have that type of person that is not really interested in finding out about you ask them questions that tells them more about you think about that way. And then the third type of person, which is actually I think my favorite type of person is is one that you never rarely asked about what they do professionally, they don't do the same. And that happens, because really, they're just trying to make a connection or even make a friend, you know, that these type of engagements here, again, whether it's in person or virtual, we, we have a limited amount of time that we can connect with people. And if you if you just find out, you know, what do you do from a till five or whatever it is professionally. That's nice. But I really find it so much more valuable, when you can have this honest connection, that no matter whether or not this is someone that you're going to do business with, or have any kind of actual professional relationship with that. They can walk away from that saying, You know what, that person listened to me. And I would I would love to just, you know, have lunch with them again, someone that you can, that you can say, hey, this is this is a this is a comfortable person, they're just able to converse with me in a natural way. And in this kind of a case, I think it's everything that you don't say that's part of your brand. So again, in different situations where it's not necessarily what you say, but it can be the questions you ask or the things that you don't say that really represent who you are.

Lori Highby: 10:01

Yeah, I agree. I mean, we've always heard that actions speak louder than words in a lot of ways. So it's how you how you, how you show up and showing, again being, I would say, genuinely interested in that person, as opposed to just kind of going through the motions, this is gonna definitely build a stronger relationship there. Kurt, how can you reflect your brand when it comes to digital networking?

Kurt Kleidon: 10:27

Yeah, so as we think about the virtual meetings that we attend, and this can be this can be the networking standpoint, or it can be something a virtual meeting that you have with a client or another type of professional relationship. You know, this is by no means new, but it is creating the branded background, you familiar with what I'm talking about with those?

Lori Highby: 10:54

Yeah, like the? Yes.

Kurt Kleidon: 10:57

Yeah. So it's, I think some people put some good thought into it. It's a love when that happens. But some people just put maybe a logo up. So

Lori Highby: 11:10

here's your favorite sports teams or something, you know, like, they wouldn't even use their own brand at all.

Kurt Kleidon: 11:15

Right? Yeah, you can, you can use that sometimes. Tell a little bit about yourself. We had a case recently, where the, this was, this was a person put their logo like centered really nicely centered, you know, perfectly centered with a white background behind them, and so represented their brand. And so there but, you know, as we know, in our virtual meeting atmosphere, your your, your face, and your your image is usually centered as well. What happened was, the logo by no intentional means at all, gave this person devil horns.

Lori Highby: 12:00

Oh, that's great.

Kurt Kleidon: 12:01

You know, you never could have predicted it, until you saw it in live there. And I'm just like, Okay, this is definitely not the brand that they're trying to represent here. So, as you look at how you're represented, sometimes we think about that and say, Alright, so how can we, how can we take what we're doing and not be just so in your face was just like, slap a logo on there, let's use, let's use brand palettes. And maybe we use a little bit of wording, but think about our positioning on the screen, just put a little bit extra thought into it so that you indeed do not represent a demon that has been reincarnated into your body. representing your brand on the screen.

Lori Highby: 12:43

Yeah, well, and sometimes, too, you have to think about, like, the different experience based on the device, you know, so, you know, in different screen sizes, kind of will position things in a different way. But yeah, those that are using that space effectively,

can tell a strong story, and even have a call to action, you know, that encourages you to connect and, and take the next step in establish trust to there's a lot of beneficial ways to use it. So I'm glad that you brought that up. Yeah.

Kurt, I'm gonna ask you a follow up question here. So if you could go back to your 20 year old self, what would you tell yourself to do more of less of or differently with regards to your professional career?

Kurt Kleidon: 13:26

Yeah, if I could go back and give myself advice when I was 20. What I think what I would do was, I would tell myself to prepare for any kind of meeting or any type of event, we're able to engage with people with maybe just a little bit of research, or maybe timely news. So I would usually usually come into conversations, just blind, you know, let's let it guide it as it as it goes in. Okay, that got by it, I think there's a real benefit to being interesting, and to being able to bring something to the table that again, if it's timely, if it's news oriented, and I'm talking about more than just like the weather, you know, let's jump in a I'm sure was a hot day today. We Yeah, we that's, that's real original.

Lori Highby: 14:25

Yep. Yep.

Kurt Kleidon: 14:27

But, you know, if you're talking, let's say you go into an automotive conference, you know, figuring out something that relates to supply chain or to manufacturing problems that are going on right now. That is that really is something that can make you stand out make you interesting and make you look like you know what you're talking about, and yeah, I would have, I think I would have benefited from just having a little bit more time that went into that. Think about that. And like I said, I think that also makes it interesting and people appreciate that.

Lori Highby: 14:55

Yeah. I agree with that. One of the things that I I'm I try to do when I am attending any sort of a networking event organization is, is to show up with something is an ask and a give, you know, because everyone good networkers wants to be able to give something. So for me, for them to be able to do that, if I can make it easier, and starting to establish that relationship both ways is by having an Ask ready and as simple as that it's easy for them to fulfill. For example, I'm looking for a dog sitter, you know, our dog walker during the day, you know, something that's just kind of, it's not a heavy ask, it's a simple ask, but it's starting to build that rapport, but then something that I can I can give as well. So maybe it's an invitation to come to another than another event with me or an invitation to or a book that I'm reading and you know, a recommendation like, Oh, I'm reading this really good book now. I'll send you a link to it or whatever, or an interesting article podcasts I heard whatever it is, but just being prepared to kind of have a couple different speaking points. And something that you can give and ask for at the same time can can make that a lot easier to

Kurt Kleidon: 16:07

Yeah, I love that idea. It's non committal, but allows you to connect on that little bit more of a personal basis.

Lori Highby: 16:14

Yep. All right, Kurt, I'm gonna give you the opportunity to interview me, what is something that you'd like to ask me?

Kurt Kleidon: 16:22

Well, let's see, Laurie, well, what? How big of an app how big of an event, the say, by a number of people, you've got events we can go to, or it's a small, intimate crowd or a larger 1000s of people at it? What what type of event you work best at? What's most comfortable for you? And why?

Lori Highby: 16:50

I love this question. Because I feel like it's not a question that a lot of people talk about. But you know, I think a lot of people think I have a big personality, and I like being around a lot of people. But the reality is, I'm more of a intimate experience type of person. So, you know, smaller groups of, you know, five, five to 10, maybe a dozen folks is more, more my speed, because I believe that you can create deeper relationships and bonds and conversations. And those environments were really big rooms can often be intimidating. In my, in my opinion, and from my perspective, I've shown up at events, you know, where there's, there's 1000 people and if you don't know anyone, it's really hard to try to find, you know, someone to connect with unless you are a very outgoing person. And, and sometimes you just got to step outside your comfort zone and walk up to someone shake hands or inject yourself in a random conversation. But that's intimidating. And that's scary. So I find that the smaller groups are way less intimidating and a lot easier to start having that more heartfelt conversation.

Kurt Kleidon: 18:04

Yeah, I agree. And in particularly at big events when it's noisy, isn't it the worst trend? Or station where you came to hear what they're saying?

Lori Highby: 18:12

Yeah, yeah, yeah, there's, yeah, it's hard. And it just seems to get louder, louder, because everyone's just trying to talk over here, everyone. So that kind of, yeah, that's a struggle for sure. Good question. Thank you so much for that card. Do you have any final words of wisdom that you'd like to share with our listeners?

Kurt Kleidon: 18:31

You don't worry if I were to give one piece of advice. It's somewhat counterintuitive where people's minds are right now. Because I've heard a lot of people that would disagree with this. But I would say when you walk into a room of people that you're meeting, for the first time, have the coolest business cards in the room. I love that. I mean, I forget often asked, okay, our business cards still relevant? You know, if my answer is, if there's one out of 100 people that ask you for your business card, then the answer to that question is yes. And there will be one out of 100 people that still want a business card. I know it's it may be a little bit passe. But really, it's not overly expensive to have really, really cool business cards. And it will make you stand out more than just about anything else out there. So put that extra effort in there and show that you're invested in your company and be that number one.

Lori Highby: 19:27

Yeah, I love that. That piece of advice. I think it's extremely valuable to still have business cards. I just went to an event earlier this week, where, you know, I'm handing out my business card to everyone I still do every time I network. I'm always the one that offered the card up. But I was surprised at how many people did did not have cards actually. And I don't know if that's a a COVID thing that oh, you know, I don't need cards anymore, or they just feel like it's not necessary but I'm I'm a fan of the card. I'm a fan of writing, you know, a little note on it and it's a reminder to me to follow often reach out to someone you know, I'll put the card kind of, you know, on my desk is, uh, you know, for that top of mind awareness. So I very much believe they're still a valuable tool in your own, you know, branding and marketing game. Yeah.

Kurt Kleidon: 20:12

And even I've heard strategies of sometimes people will say, Well, I don't give business cards out. So it gives me a reason to reach back out to someone. And yeah, you can you can play some of those games. But no matter what, you might as well have some on your pocket because it's gonna pay off. Yep, totally

Lori Highby: 20:28

agree with that. Kurt, if anyone is interested in getting in contact with you, what's the best way that they can reach you?

Kurt Kleidon: 20:36

Well, Lori, well, people can reach me personally through my LinkedIn profile, you can look up Kurt Kleidon, and both with K. And because there's no other Kurt Kleidon in the world, I'm lucky in that aspect that my name is individual enough that they can find me on LinkedIn. And then you find out more about our company. It's kleidon.com. And KL ei d o n. com. So look forward to hearing from people and particularly on LinkedIn. I mean, feel free to connect with me because I want to hear what you all that's listening to this, what's on your minds as well and just learning more from you.

Lori Highby: 21:09

Love that will include that information in the show notes. Thank you so much for taking the time to be on the show, Kurt.

Kurt Kleidon: 21:16

Thank you, Laurie. It's my pleasure.

Lori Highby: 21:17

All right. This wraps up our episode of social capital. If you have a burning marketing or relationship question, reach out, I'd love to answer it on the show. And as mentioned before, let's connect on LinkedIn. I'm looking forward to hearing from you Kurt's looking forward to hearing from you we both are looking forward to hearing from you. I hope you enjoyed today's show. I want you to go out there and get noticed.