Christine Schlonski [0:02]
Hey Gorgeous! This is episode number 216 with the “go-to” experts in Video Marketing, Ian Garlic.

Ian Garlic [0:11]
Hi, this is Ian Garlic. You are listening to the Heart Sells! Podcast with Christine Schlonski. Enjoy.

Christine Schlonski [0:17]
Well, I’m looking very much forward to the next conversation because Ian Garlic is the “go-to” experts in Video Marketing and Storytelling. He has produced more than 2000 videos for his clients. He is a best-selling author of 3 marketing books. As well, has recorded over 250 episodes of “The Garlic Marketing Show”, which I had the honor to be a guest on. I’m so excited that he found the time to be on Heart Sells! Podcast. We are going to dive into the via video, so important for your business and why it helps you to sell more because this video you can actually tell a story and Ian is amazing in storytelling, marketing. Anything that has to do with differentiating or helping you to differentiate from other people in the market. Show your uniqueness, your story and help your clients to understand who you are and what you do. So enjoy this episode. I’m really looking forward to have the conversation this Ian and have fun. Well, I’m so excited you on the show today, Ian. Welcome!

Ian Garlic [1:28]
Thank you. Love it. I always love talking to you.

Christine Schlonski [1:31]
Yes. Conversations with you are so wonderful. I love your podcast, “The Garlic Marketing Show”. I mean, you have amazing guests and it’s a bit of a pity, you are an expert for video marketing, and it’s a podcast, we don’t see anything. But I guess just part of life. How did you get into video marketing and why do you see it as so important today that people actually use video as often as they can?

Ian Garlic [2:06]
Well, you know, it was 2007, 2008 when YouTube bought, or Google bought YouTube and I was already in marketing and I knew instantly, I’m like, all this is gonna change everything because I was working with professionals. Every one of them had a different story. Every one of them wanted to work with slightly different people. We all think everyone wants to work at the same people, but they don’t. I realize video is going to allow them to be in front of these people, advising them, be in front of them on a regular basis, like never before. The way we’re gonna consume video, especially because of Google buying YouTube. We’re gonna have all this intense going into video. I realized that back then, I mean, I was way, way ahead of the curve. Even back then, I had this kind of sell other stuff to get people to do video. But it was from there, it worked. We’ve honed systems and we’ve honed how it works. We’ve tested and delivered and produced thousands upon thousands of videos and different versions of them. I’ve interviewed hundreds of people. Things like your customer stories or when they’re done right on video can transform a business. I’ve seen it now. I’ve seen people that we’ve helped grow from zero to millions using online video. This is, it’s not, it’s real businesses, professional businesses, which I think are even more important because when we’re scared, when we’re working with a professional, mostly lawyer, Doctor, dentist, a coach, a consultant, we want to see that person we want to know them before we talk to them. I knew video is important. Obviously now, with everything that’s gone on with the global lockdown, video has become, hit a whole new peak to the point where they’re having to throttle YouTub. Like in India, they’re throttling YouTube, so it’s a lower bitrate. There’s that much video being consumed. It’s not going to go back down to level was, a month ago, ever again, because people’s views have shifted, their habits have shifted, they’re used to video. It’s almost moved from important to have to an absolute must. If you want to compete in the marketplace, you’ve got to be doing online video.

Christine Schlonski [4:25]
Hmm, yeah. And I know that’s a challenge for people like the building, building the business, getting online. That’s already a lot of work. And now including video, but I also know that video really helps yourself. So if you’re struggling with sales, you can make it a lot easier for you when you actually use video. Do you have some advice for people what to do first or what is the video to have that they have at least start?

Ian Garlic [4:57]
Yeah, I mean, I think customer stories are the easiest, the low hanging fruit. Even if you think your customers won’t talk on video, someone will. So those are the easiest ones because, and stories. I say case stories. I use that term not testimonials. I don’t want to hear, “Oh, Christine’s great. Her hows areawesome”, which it is. But if I’m new to you, that doesn’t matter to me. What I want to know is, “Who is this person? How did it help them? Are they like me? What was their problem? Was it like my problem?”, that’s why you have to tell a story. So I would say those are the easiest ones. But then really know your customers journey, like understanding your customers journey and what’s going on right now. We’re filming this in the middle and I mean, I know people will be watching this later. But in the middle of the lockdown, they’ll the shutdown, understanding what’s going on inside their head is. I’m seeing people put out content videos that are horrible because they’re completely not acknowledging what’s going inside that person’s head. They’re like, “Oh, we’re open for business.” I’m like, “I don’t care if you’re open for business.” We have zoom. I’m like, “I don’t know how to use zoom.” there’s moments, if you know your customers journey, there’ll be moments where it’s critical to make video. And that will be the video you need to make right then and get it done as fast as possible. Long story short, any other time I’d start with customer stories, and then maybe get into, your process. A process video or your about us video are two easy ones. They’re high converting ones. They’re not gonna drive a lot of traffic, but they’re improve the performance of all of your other content.

Christine Schlonski [6:36]
Yeah, I think it’s important because it helps people to kind of get prepared. When they actually speak to you, they already have a feel of who you are. You don’t need to explain all the credentials, it just, well, you’re here because you watch the video, you’ve checked out the website, you’ve seen case stories and you know that we might be the right people to help you.

Ian Garlic [7:05]
Yeah. Oh, completely.

Christine Schlonski [7:07]
Yeah, you mentioned earlier and I thought that was really interesting that, businesses rated for more or less from zero to two millions. What would I need as an entrepreneur, what mindset? Not necessarily the technical part and stuff, but what mindset or where do I need to focus that I can really kickstart my business?

Ian Garlic [7:31]
And that’s a great question because you’re right. Everyone wants to start with what camera to use or what platform should I be on. Those are like the last questions you should be answering. We all have a camera. The mindset of, if you’re, first of all providing value in the moment, because we decide because of the situation. There’s thing called fundamental attribution error. We believe that people do things because of who they are. They do things because of what’s going going on. Understand what’s going on, at that person, at that moment. We just talked about is absolutely crucial. Having a situation mindset, you don’t put yourself next to that person and then provide value. If you’re providing value with your video, you’re truly providing value and there’s a format for doing that. But if you’re providing value and not just telling someone what they need to do, but being empathetic to what’s going on at that moment, they’ll pay attention and you will help the right people. Know the situation, provide value, and then understand that one video isn’t gonna do it. You’ve got to be consistent and everyone talks about this, but understand, there’s another philosophy called, The Punctuated Equilibrium. It’s evolutionary biology thing, but I talked about with everyone. It was a great interview with Perry Marshall. He was an incredible marketer that had on the show, but we think that, “Okay, I’m gonna do x videos. I’m going to do 10 videos and 10 videos will give me one 1/10 result and 100 videos”, that’s not the case. This kind of result, this kind of results on your and feel like one video also just takes off. That’s a combination of a bunch of things. But that’s why, and we see that. We’re seeing that right now even globally. It’s an evolutionary biology turn because things happen at a big pop, not the slow, the dinosaurs disappeared. Also, the internet revolution took off. Internet was around for 20 years before. It seems like Netflix took off overnight or this took off overnight. That’s what happens or things go away overnight. But when it comes to your content, you’ve got to be helping, helping, helping, understand the situation and all sudden, you know, 10 videos, 20 videos, 30 videos, 40 videos in, your business is going to change and all those videos are gonna start working at a whole new level. Those are three big ideas, 1.) understand the situation; 2.) provide value in that situation; 3.) consistently, be putting that content out there. Don’t worry about haters. I know that, all sudden, your business is going to take off.

Christine Schlonski [10:09]
Yeah, such important advice. You brought us a really cool gift, storyboard video blueprint, which is an amazing course you put together, which I’m going through right now. So I’m gonna give it a shout out right here and there. And people can learn more, a little bit later of how they can get access. But what I really loved was, what you helped me to realize it’s not just putting yourself in the situation next to your client, but really diving into, “What do they feel?” Especially if somebody doesn’t feel comfortable selling and they hustle and hustle and hustle, they have all this great content. They love what they do, but they just can’t make it work because they don’t make enough revenue with that passion. Because they don’t ask for money or they don’t make the offers. That person is probably sitting wondering like, “Where’s my next client gonna come from? Why can’t I make this work?”, and the hard things and they get really upset and frustrated with themselves because they put in so much effort but they have nothing to show for. Because they’re all mindset is in the way to have that sales success mindset where they finally can enjoy sales conversations. They’re far away from understanding how you can have even fun in the sales conversation. Starting with that story way earlier to really meet them at the point where they are. Not the point where you as a coach or mentor, get excited because you see what’s possible. But like really start with, like 10,000 steps behind to make sure you get them, understanding what you’re talking about. So they feel heard, and they feel seen and understood. Then you can take them on that journey, where one day, they will realize, “Oh, that’s what I need to do. Now I know where I can go to get support.”

Ian Garlic [12:13]
Yep, yeah, exactly. And there’s that fundamental shift that will happen. It’s like, boom, and they might watch your content. I have people who have watched my content for three years, four years, never said a single thing and all sudden hire us, or all sudden sign up and work with us and like, “Oh, yeah, I’ve been watching this.” I’m like, “Why didn’t you say anything?” That happens, but it’s because you’re there early in the journey. And when it comes time to buy from you, it’s a no brainer. You’re the only choice.

Christine Schlonski [12:36]
Totally, yeah. So do you remember the very first thing that you ever sold in your entire life?

Ian Garlic [12:47]
I don’t know. I mean, I started

Christine Schlonski [12:49]
Talking about going way back.

Ian Garlic [12:52]
Yeah, I mean, I was an entrepreneur because I grew up in entrepreneurial household. So I was an entrepreneur from the get-go. I Never thought that I wouldn’t be so, I’ve started so many businesses. I don’t even remember.

Christine Schlonski [13:08]
Something as a kid like, did you sell cookies to go to? Stuff like this.

Ian Garlic [13:16]
Yeah, you know, I always thought big. So it was like, I always had big ideas of stuff to sell and I don’t even remember all these ideas. I sold, I don’t, I mean, garage sale stuff, doing that. Getting on eBay, went back then and selling stuff. I was always big into marketing and getting people to do that. I tried out all like the infomercial marketing stuff when I was like 15 years old, 14 years old, 13 years old.

Christine Schlonski [13:47]
Wow.

Ian Garlic [13:47]
I was learning that stuff, direct response back then. My problem was just inconsistency. I was like, “Let me try this. Let me try this. Let me try this. Let me try this.” I always was a good salesperson, because I never tried to sell. I think that’s where it mindset came in. It was like, my first, I sold, I worked in retail, and then I had a job. I was like 19, selling cars. I know everyone has this opinion of car salesman, but I did really, really well. Because I never tried to sell anyone. I just listened to them. Ssk them questions. I’m like, “Ah, do this.” I’m like, “Oh, this is what’s best for you.” And really listen, and they could see that and I think that’s the key. But I realized back then it was just, listening to people and providing what they need and what they’re asking for.

Christine Schlonski [14:45]
Yeah, yeah, totally. Sale is a service and I always say sales is love. Because you give something that you share, especially when you are the entrepreneur, maybe you’re even like service based. You had the idea. You made have created that online course or that workshop or whatever. It’s like, really it comes from the heart and supports people. I think if you support people, and then you put a price tag, and that’s what they need, and they get so much more value out of it than what they pay, you have a win-win situation, everybody’s going to be happy.

Ian Garlic [15:21]
100%, 100%. We talked about before, figure out more and more ways to help them.

Christine Schlonski [15:27]
Yes, yeah, totally agree. Do you remember them the very first time where you actually received money for something you did?

Ian Garlic [15:38]
I mean, I was doing, I was, in ’97, ’98, I was doing trading, like trade-in and buy. Back then. I did. Right when I was out of college, and that was, it was interesting. People paid me. It was very nerve-wracking. Because in the stock market crash, I went through that. I was a trader around that time and I was teaching people how to do it. I think that was one of the first times I’ve received money. I mean, but I was I’ve always been like in service, either service industry or an entrepreneur. I was always, either being an entrepreneur selling something like in college, I built lofts for college kids, and then took them down and got paid. Then I did a lot of other stuff to make money and hustle during college to make money. It’s one of those things that just I guess was inbred in me.

Christine Schlonski [16:33]
Yeah. I think it’s empowering when you realize that people give you money for whatever you came up with, whatever you build. I think that’s super, super empowering.

Ian Garlic [16:44]
Yes, for sure.

Christine Schlonski [16:45]
Talking about you being an entrepreneur for, it’s ingrained. How do you deal or how did you deal with rejection?

Ian Garlic [16:57]
Well, that’s a tough one. The amount of rejection, it’s tough. I didn’t deal with it well, a lot of times. I didn’t deal with it well. I’m like, “Oh, my ideas, bad ideas bad”, and I look back and those were good ideas. I just didn’t follow through enough and get rejected enough. Now, I realized that only 4% of people are ready to buy right now. I mean, really, you need to be talking to, think about that, 4% at most are ready to buy right now. You’re gonna get rejected just because they’re not ready. It’s just not now for a lot of people. I think about that, and then I just tried it. Now, I just try it. I’m like, “I’m gonna leave every conversation providing as much value as possible.” Knowing that I did, and if they don’t want to do it, well, they don’t want to do it. Maybe it was just not right now.

Christine Schlonski [17:54]
Yeah, and that’s also what you tell yourself. It’s not right now. Do you ask people what made them decide like, why is it a no or do you just move on?

Ian Garlic [18:07]
I don’t really ask people why it’s a no. A lot of times, because I don’t believe that people know why they’re saying no, most of the time. They might say it was money. I mean, there’s ways to manipulate. Well, if money wasn’t an object, would you do this? And you can ask all those questions. I just don’t do that. It’s just not me. I can tell. I’ve worked with so many people. That’s why I like about video. And that’s why I like also video conferencing and hearing someone’s voice, because you can tell that something’s off. And lots of people will say, “Oh, it’s too expensive”, and they’ve really got something else going on in their life. And then if I hear too expensive, I’m like, “Well, maybe I should be lowering my costs.” I don’t and that’s my reason. I may I probably should. But it’s just one of those things that it affects my psyche in a certain way. I’ve noticed it. So I don’t do that.

Christine Schlonski [19:10]
Yeah, I always love to take it for research. That you kind of know. And obviously, the first objection I learned at some point, then that has served me well is, the first objection is not the real one. You got to dig deeper to find the real reason of why they can’t move ahead. Why it’s a, “No, not now.” Then also, you can make like a plan. If it’s a, “No, not now”, do you want to catch up in two weeks? A month? A year? You can kind of develop the next steps, even though it’s a no right now.

Ian Garlic [19:46]
Exactly. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that’s a good way. I always say, “Well, do you want to talk about this later? Is it something that interests you?” I always have a follow up plan. For sure.

Christine Schlonski [19:58]
Yeah. Awesome. What means Heart Sells! for you?

Ian Garlic [20:04]
What, what does that mean to me?

Christine Schlonski [20:06]
Yes.

Ian Garlic [20:07]
A Heart Sells! Well, I mean, it’s empathetic, being empathetic. Empathy wins every day. And that’s not sympathy. And it’s not necessarily emotional response, but understanding people, understanding what, listening to them really, really listening to them. Listen to their voice, listening to what they’re asking, listening to why you think they’re asking. This work comes back to the situation. Listening to their voice. Are they just not paying attention to you? Are they distracted? Listening to what they want, and asking questions about. We do a deep, deep discovery process to understand really what’s driving people. I think that’s absolutely crucial because they might be coming to you because they think it’s the right thing to do. They don’t really want this but like, “Oh, everyone’s doing video, I needed to do video.” If they don’t believe it, then I don’t want to be selling them an idea that they don’t believe in. I mean, that’s what Heart Sells! means to me, it’s just empathy. Really, really deep empathy.

Christine Schlonski [21:12]
Awesome. Yeah, being true to who you are and also only serve people that need to be served. Not manipulating somebody to get to your program or service or whatever, just to figure out that nobody’s happy. Because that’s usually what happens at the end. People buy and then they’re not happy and you’re not happy because they’re not as easy as they could be if they were your ideal client.

Ian Garlic [21:41]
Yeah, I want to say something about that though, when you say manipulation because I don’t think you should manipulate people to the wrong end. But if you know this is right for them, if you know that you’re gonna be able to help them and they have a lot of objections. You can manipulate them using ethical techniques. Video is manipulation. If I tell a story to make you get an emotional response to take action, that’s manipulation. When people go through my course and like, there’s a lot of psychological manipulation in what I’m doing. I know it, it works, but it works on the other side too. There was like, someone’s gonna manipulate them to do what’s wrong for them. If you’re going to do what’s right for someone, you should use ethical manipulation. I know a lot of people are like, “Well, that’s not right to make them feel this way.” I’m like, “Well, you need to make them feel something.” I just want to leave that there because there are people out on the flip side, like, “I don’t want to manipulate anyone and I just want to be brutally honest and take it for what it is”, you should use everything you can if you’re really helping people.

Christine Schlonski [22:53]
Yeah, and I’m happy to get to that in the next episode because I think it’s important to talk about it especially because I’m talking to the pro right here, so we’re going to get a lot of more insights and then also on how to differentiate from what’s an ethical way what’s not, and how you can use it for your business to really help more people and have more impact on people’s lives in a positive way. And so, let’s finish this one by telling people how they can get their hands on the story —

Ian Garlic [23:31]
The video blueprint. We’re going to give you 30 day access to the first part of the storyboard blueprint course. I usually charge $2,500 right now to do this with someone, one on one. And we went through and did this workshop with people and we did it live over a course of five days. If you go to http://storycrews.com/heartsells you’ll be able to get access to that. You will have, I’m not giving you unlimited access because I want you to do it. I want you to take action. I want everyone to take action. So that’s why I’m making it scarce. Because I don’t want you to get in there and be like, “Oh, this is normal on this course. I put it off to the side.” I want you to take action because I promise if you do it, everyone that’s done it I’ve had guys like Gino Wickman, who’d found EOS, Chris Trier from risotto, Tanner Larsson from Build Grow Scale. Multi million dollar businesses run through us and I’ve never had anyone say anything but, this was eye opening and change the way that they sell. Please go there, http://storycrews.com/heartsells and take advantage of it.

Christine Schlonski [24:42]
Yeah, awesome. Well, thank you so much. I’m really looking forward to our next episode.

Ian Garlic [24:46]
Me too.

Christine Schlonski [24:47]
Well, Gorgeous. I’m really wondering if you have gotten some new ideas because I have a ton of ideas and now it’s up to me to actually put that into action, which I understand this video, it’s not that easy, But don’t get discouraged. Take your time. Take your videos, take your case stories, take everything you have, and put it into action so people can see you. They can learn about you, they can learn to love you and trust you before they even reach out. It will really help you to get your sales game to a new level. I also found the concept of positive manipulation very interesting, and I’m happy that we have another episode together, that Ian and I will be talking about positive manipulation in Episode 217, so join us. Before you do with this episode, hop on over to https://christineschlonski.com/podcast, find the show notes and find all the links to connect with Ian. As well as his amazing free gift, 30 days free access to the Storyboard Video Blueprint Workshop, which will help you a lot to get clarity and to set up your video production in the right way. Thank you so much for having been here. Looking forward to seeing you for the next episode. Have a wonderful day. Stay safe and I’m saying bye for now.