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In this episode of Network Effect, host Brian welcomes Tim from Definition Digital Marketing to discuss their unique approach to networking, specifically using the Alignable platform. They share their experiences and insights into how Alignable's Quick Connect feature facilitates meaningful business connections. Tim introduces his innovative service of creating custom business songs, explaining how it evolved from a free offer into a valuable product. The episode emphasizes the importance of personalized networking strategies and highlights the potential for businesses to leverage unique services for deeper engagement and growth. Listen in to Tim's exceptional audio work and learn how personalized touches can significantly enhance business relationships.
00:00 Introduction and Welcome
00:18 Meet Tim: Networking Journey
01:25 Alignable: A Networking Platform
03:37 Networking Strategies and Experiences
07:12 Tim's Unique Business Songs
10:42 The Impact of Custom Business Songs
19:45 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Links
Tim - https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothy-joseph-57346477/
Web - https://www.definitiondigitalmarketing.com/
Alignable - https://www.alignable.com/
Transcribed by Descript, Affiliate
[00:00:00] All right, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Network Effect, where we help you transform relationships into opportunities.
If you don't know me by now, my name is Brian. I am your host, and today we have a guest. The, and we're gonna walk you through a networking journey, if you will.
I met Tim at a virtual networking event.
And I'm gonna hold that back a little bit. And we wanna tell you this story together, not just my version of it, but Tim is the owner of Definition Digital marketing and what he does on a day-to-day basis is awesome, and he provides great services that a lot of people can use and need in my opinion.
But we discovered something cool together. So with enough of that, I want to introduce you to Tim.
Tim, welcome to Network Effect.
Hey. Glad you could invite me. Thanks for the, thanks for having me on.
You [00:01:00] know what, I think that this story is gonna be perfect for network effect because we've known each other for 10 days, two weeks.
Yeah. Yeah. And most of that was like, okay, maybe we had the one we met at the event and then we had the one-on-one. So even though we've known each other for a couple of days, it's been mostly emails and, a little bit of, a little bit of FaceTime over the, web.
Absolutely. So if you're not familiar with a platform called Alignable, it's for small businesses to network and build referral partners.
Obviously the both of us belong to Alignable and we're both pretty active on Alignable, but they have these things called quick connects to where in the beginning everybody's, it's a Zoom call. For more or less, but they go into breakout rooms and usually you are paired with somebody else and their software minimizes the ability or opportunity to connect with the same person multiple [00:02:00] times, which is really cool.
I've never been connected with the same person twice in the same call. I have been connected with somebody I've met and spoke to before. On calls, in the past, however, you get seven minutes, it's the two of you. Yeah. Seven minutes to talk. What's your experience been with Alignable Tim?
Yeah, so after my first connect event, I signed up for the plus subscription.
So that's 'cause I was like, oh yeah, I should be able to meet. 'cause I've used similar platforms in the past and the amount of people that wanna connect with you is. You're sending out a hundred messages and you're lucky if one of them returns. Whereas with a quick connect, like everybody I talked to, either I connected to them or they connected with me and I'm like, okay, I'm running outta connections.
This is, and again, you said seven minutes together. I was like, usually you go to an event, like if you go to the in person chamber of commerce or, what's the other one? The the business meeting, I forget the acronym, but you go there and you get a minute to [00:03:00] introduce yourself and if what you said in that minute is not appealing to whoever.
If they're not gonna come up to you afterwards and get your contact information, you can put your business cards. A lot of those meetings, you go there, you try to connect with somebody, and if you don't catch 'em immediately after the end of the event, that was a waste of your time. Whereas with the Alignable events, not only can I do them in the office so I've got temporary office at the moment, but not only can I do that there, I don't have to make the trip out there.
Every time I've connected with somebody, it's been somebody that's set up a one-on-one meeting. So I've gotten at least one on, and most of the time I've gotten multiples out of it. So it's a fantastic tool.
You know what, and I wanna back up here for a second. My experience with networking, number one, I've gone to events, to AB test pitches to work on this skill or work on driving a conversation.
I have gone to Quick Connects. [00:04:00] I've done my best not to talk for seven minutes. I'll ask questions like, whoa, we're running out of time. Tell me about you. I'm like, wait a minute before that, and I'll ask another open-ended question. And I'm not making fun of them or making light of them, but I'm doing my best to.
Keep the conversation on them and keep them engaged and telling story and answering questions, and I have fun with that when I do my best not to pitch at all. Tim, have you ever tested pitches or played like that? ,
no. I've been testing pitches and that was something that I had to get used to 'cause.
I can talk a lot, and the more I talk, it's oh, I end up using five minutes of the seven minute. And I'm like, oh, no, I didn't let you talk at all. So some people appreciate that because that's their goal. That's their kind of, their way of connecting with people is they're there to help businesses.
So they need to understand what that business does, the specifics of it. They're asking you questions about it, and then other times you're there and you're giving your pitch and you're like I [00:05:00] do a ton of things. And if I spent even just this. Podcast, if I just listed all the things that, that I can do from definition digital marketing, that would take up the whole time because I gotta explain all the different services and there's, yeah, there's so many.
I always forget some and I'm listening out like oh. There's also that one. And, anytime I find a business that I wanna work with, it's Ooh, that's a really cool product. That's something my clients would be interested. I add that to my list of services and Hey, these are things that I can present to clients, or these are things that I can, my existing clients are new clients, these are, this is, I just keep adding tools to my, to my arsenal.
And it's eventually I'm gonna get to the point where it's okay, now it's gonna take me 30 minutes to go through my whole list of things that I can give to your business. Like I'm doing it right now. I'm talking a little bit more than I anticipated, but I've got a lot to offer and all that's running through my head and it's oh, seven minutes gets eaten up real fast.
Yeah, and you know what the passion for your work comes through, so it's awesome. You're talking, one thing I did with [00:06:00] you. And what I try to do when the Quick Connect pops, it's two people on screen. I try to be high energy and ask the first question because I wanna utilize that time to pull information.
The questions I'm asking are strategic to pull enough information out of them because like you, I do a few things. That way I can pitch to them. What pain points I've discovered during just a few minutes of q and a and oh yeah, when I found out what you do, I'm like, I'm not even pitching to you. I want to celebrate what you're doing because every, not every.
People who take podcasting seriously want a cool intro or a cool outro, and there are platforms like I use to where we can license music. And as long as I pay that monthly bill, I can continue to use [00:07:00] that song. Or we go to Fiverr and we have somebody compose an original song, play an original song, maybe do voiceover and read a script, doing the introduction and outro.
Tim I'm gonna let you explain what you do, and at the end of this episode, when we say goodbye and sign off, I'm going to play four audio files for you of what Tim did for me, and I want your feedback and you're going to choose which one you liked the best. I might not take your votes as gold and use it because I already have my favorite and I've listened to these four files, I don't know, 10, 15 times a piece, Tim.
You've like literally nailed using a generic song I shouldn't say generic, A licensed song like you just heard on the intro of this show is cool. I try to find one with tempo energy where the lyrics are [00:08:00] somewhat applicable and you don't even hear lyrics on my intro, you will on my outro. But what Tim does.
Dials it in makes it specific to this podcast, and I'm gonna be so excited to use it for the episode we release after Tim. Tim, talk to us about the conversations we had and some light bulb moments that popped and what you've done for me.
Yeah, so it was like a convergence of things that just kinda lined up because I've been that was probably like my.
Fifth, maybe sixth event that I've done. And so I've been refining the elevator pitch and I found that one of the things that I was doing as a, like a, it was a, it was an introductory thing. It was something I was doing for businesses for free, just kinda as I met them. I would create a business song and it would be the lyrics would be based on information I could find about their website or what we talked about during the chat, just things like that.
Some of it was, oh, I know this about what they're doing. It's not listed on their [00:09:00] website, but hey, this is something I could interject into the song to give it that, that touch that puts it that let's it escape being generic. 'cause a lot of these songs, it's not customized to the business and.
It sounds like it's not customized for the business. So what I can do is the more I learn about the business, the more I can refine lyrics that suit that business. And then I've got tools that let me produce studio quality songs for that business. And like I said, I was doing it as a hobby, so I was like, oh, hey, we just met, here's something free and cool that you can use for your business.
And I was using it as like an opening tactic is, Hey, just here's something you can use. It's, it sets me apart because I haven't met anybody else on any networking that I've been doing that is doing what I'm doing, and I was doing it as a side thing. I was like, that's not even something I was planning on charging for.
And then when we started talking you, you were pumping it up. You're like, Hey, this is unique and original, so it makes you stand out. But this is something you need [00:10:00] to put, this is something you need to start. Selling as a product. This is not something you should be giving away for free.
And you open up a whole my, I my mind to a whole new prospecting avenue, and I was like, oh, I'd never even, you're a podcast. So that's that's your area of expertise. About podcast networks and you know how massive this the audience is for this.
I wasn't aware. I know of a handful of podcasts and and I don't at, I don't tune in or subscribe to any. And I was like, okay, how many can there be? And you're talking about, oh, that's a much bigger number than I expected. And I was like, okay, here's a real market for this.
And I've been, giving these kind of away for free. So after talking with you, I was like, okay, now when I'm introducing this, I no longer introduce it as a free product. Because there's so many people that are interested and that like what they hear when I show them the demos that I've created for other businesses, they're like, this is amazing, and this is something I should have picked up on sooner because one of the first businesses I created a song for the person I showed it to after [00:11:00] afterwards, sent me an email saying, Hey, the owner of the company, I sent it to them and they love this.
How much do you want for it?
And I was like, naive. And I'm like, oh, it's free. I told you it was free in the first team. And I'm like, oh no, I just missed a sales opportunity. I should have been valuing these higher than, than I was.
So now I'm no longer doing 'em for free. I guess I, I built up a little bit of a roster of free versions that, hey, this is the kind of work I can do showing the range of style.
That's the other thing that's amazing about what I'm currently doing. Is a lot of people that do songs for businesses, or at least in the past, because I've seen other people doing it, and these are people who do it themselves. There's one style, like they either do a country version and they do a country version for all of their clients because that's the only type of music they can do.
And they've got the instruments for that. Where with what I'm doing, I've done a bunch of different styles. I did one that was kinda, a reggae Caribbean feel. I've got country songs. I've got one that sounds like [00:12:00] a. A modern pop, oh, what's this guy's name? Ed Sheeran ish style song.
And I was like, man, that came out perfectly. That was exactly what I had in mind when I was writing the lyrics. And then I, did what I did to create the song and I was like, oh, that's exactly what I'm looking for. And, and person I made it for, loved it and was like, oh, this is incredible.
And, they're asking me about the. I told 'em a little bit, but not enough where they could reproduce it themselves. So it's something that I've seen other people doing similar stuff and there's, like tutorials and things like that. But most of the stuff that I've heard comes out sounding generic, and that's because they're not doing what I'm doing to fine tune it.
And again, they're not focusing on businesses a lot of times they're using, they're just make, making general songs. Some of tools. These tools, but they're relying too much on the tool. Whereas the way my process, it's more of my personal input and Oh [00:13:00] yeah that's pretty cool. So my brother found out about what I was doing and he's in the Air Force. He's got an event coming up in April and he's Hey, what can you can you use that for what we're doing?
I wanna make up something to promote this event to the Air Force. And so I, took an afternoon, put something together for him and what I created because he wanted a rap rock style song. And, he was thinking, kind of Lincoln Park and after messing with the lyrics, all the lyrics are describing the event that's based on a pamphlet he gave me. So it's a PDF file, like 30 pages. It's describing the, at the event when the dates are what the breakout sessions are gonna be focused on and things like that. And I created a song for him and he is currently running that through the pr, so I don't think I can, so I've got that set aside as a separate song.
So it's not in the list of demos, but one of the lyrics that I'm really proud of that I included in there is a rising tide, raisins [00:14:00] boats. But as airmen, we soar. We don't float.
And I was like, dude, as soon as I came up perfectly with the song and. Yeah, everything it is, it comes across exactly. It's oh, that's perfect and the final product sounds something.
I was like, if I didn't know that I made it and I was just listening on a radio, I would say, oh, is that Hollywood Unad? Or, because it's, like that's, it's crazy how radio quality and how studio professionally are. I dunno that's the right way to describe it, but it sounds like a, something that was done in a studio and it's something I did personally in my own space, in my own office.
That's the, yeah, it's amazing.
I was blown away when I opened up the first file and I'm like, oh my gosh. And I was about halfway through the second version you did for me, and I went, why didn't I ask for? Four different styles instead of four versions of a style. And I'm like, oh, I learned my [00:15:00] lesson, but what I got was phenomenal.
And the way it ties into networking and network effect, the podcast, and it was just. Perfect, and I'm excited to share them with the audience here. And again, after the intro, I'm gonna run one in through four so you can check them out for yourself. But I was completely stoked with what was done and a couple of things, you don't have to go to Fiverr and do a back and forth.
The process was really simple with you, Tim. We talked for. Five minutes and I think I sent you a link to the show description or something. Yeah. And you generated gold.
I'm not paying continual licensing fees. I'm actually purchasing it from you, so there's no rights to it being a podcast intro, outro.
And. It's a sweet deal for people [00:16:00] that want to increase the value of their podcast production. Going this route rather than paying monthly licensing or, working with somebody on Fiverr and, or I encouraged Tim, I'm like, jump on Fiverr. Throw up some samples for you there.
You never know. That could turn into a nice little side hustle, but the way that you were giving them away is. An awesome value. First upsell to get them deeper into your funnel and expose your products to what else you can do for a company. So have you had any feedback or experience to where a company was so blown away that they purchased more of your services?
So there's a couple of businesses that is specifically because I gave them songs and they were like, oh, okay. Because sometimes you meet somebody and you're like, okay, how much of what they said is real? Or, bluster them just, PR and [00:17:00] how much of them is able to deliver on that?
And when I created this, I was like, oh, I'm gonna do a song for you. They're like, oh, okay. That's nice. And then I send them the actual song I made and they're like, okay, this is way more than I was expecting. Okay, this guy's legit. He actually knows what he's doing. He's, he's providing a service above and beyond what he promised.
What are the other services he's doing? And so that started those other conversations. And there's a couple that are in the works and we're working out the finer details before they actually become a paying customer. But none have actually, no money has exchanged hands yet.
But then again, I've only been on Alignable a very short time, and I've only been doing the music thing. Maybe a month and a half. Yeah. So
yeah, it's it's relatively new, but it's helping you keep people or push people deeper into your funnel.
Yes. Yeah. And I didn't really start promoting the music thing.
It was it was always seemed to be an afterthought until kind of more recently, like when we talk. It was oh, this is the thing that's resonating with more people. I need to start pushing this more as a way to set [00:18:00] myself apart. So that's why I was, I think everybody I talked with in that particular Connect event, instead of talking about the other services, because we do have unique services that I've seen anybody else offering, but I was like, okay, this is the one where I don't have to explain very much.
I just say, Hey, custom business songs, people understand it immediately doesn't require a whole lot. And when they actually hear it for themselves, they. When you said custom business songs, I was thinking maybe an acoustic guitar or something. But this is full blown multiple instruments stellar vocals and it's describing their business and it's using lyrics sometimes pulled directly from their website or things that we said in the exchange.
And when they hear that, they're like, okay, this is custom for me. This is not generic. So going back four version. So two of them do have nearly identical lyrics, but all four are slightly different variations. So you, they're not quite all in the same genre. It's, but it's the, a lot of them are southern rock and I've [00:19:00] chose that the more, 'cause I listened to a couple of your podcasts and I got a theme and some of the other podcasts that you've shown up on, I like, okay, this seems the general style and this seems to fit the network effect.
So I. Kind. I could have done a completely wrapped version and a hip hop and I was like, eh. But that doesn't quite fit with the other stuff that you've done. It may sound cool, but it doesn't quite mesh with the style of the show. And I was like, okay. Based on the style of the show, this southern rock influence seems to be pivotal.
So there's Southern Rock mixed with other genres, but the Southern rock is the primary.
It was very fitting. I totally stoked with what you delivered to me. Listen, I am going to. Put links to Tim in the show notes. I want you to go check out the work that he does, and if you're a podcaster, if you're a club sports team and you want a [00:20:00] song to charge out onto the field, that would be another great play because it can reference the team name, the sport, that high energy of a team running onto the field.
There are so many. Directions you can go with what you do. It's phenomenal, man.
Tim, I wanna thank you number one for delivering me those four samples, and I'm excited to see what the audience feeds back. And before we go I want to share with you, we met on a quick connect, had a one-on-one.
Tim's on my podcast, we've discovered that we're probably pretty decent referral partners. He has a unique product that. My customers and people that I, I'm involved with can use, so I can refer them to Tim. Tim. If he has a customer that needs and or wants a podcast or podcast support or coaching, when it comes around the content he [00:21:00] may refer them to me and that is such a valuable relationship to have from networking.
Tim, any parting words before we go?
Yeah, it's fantastic to have met you. And then the first meeting we had, so the one-on-one, you immediately started giving me resources and presenting this whole market. So that was one of things blown away right at the start of. This guy's not looking for what he can get outta it.
He immediately, he started saying, how can I help you? And after listening to a couple of the episodes, it's okay, you, it's not just something you say on the podcast, it's something you're actually doing in you're networking efforts. It's, and I think there was a, there's a lyric in one of the oh, I don't remember the exact words, but something about give first and watch opportunities irrupt.
So that's yeah, that's exactly what, and it's not something that's just, oh, that sounds nice on paper. It's something that actually works because I've seen it and that's just oh, that's what I have a whole new opportunity to [00:22:00] pitch what I'm what I'm doing, selling these songs to, podcasts.
And it's yeah, a team thing. Something I hadn't considered either, but that's.
Tim, I wanna thank you for being a guest here on Network Effect.
Links will be in your show notes. I greatly appreciate you taking time out of your very busy day. If anybody wants to connect with Tim Links will be in the show notes below. Hey, you'll be able to connect with Tim, have a conversation with him, give him some ideas and talk to him.
I'm sure he is gonna be extremely affordable for a podcast and I, the value that a custom song is gonna bring to your show is paramount. Tim, appreciate you.
Thanks for having me.
All right, everybody. That was yet another episode of Network Effect. I greatly appreciate you joining us.
Hey, if you know a podcaster that needs a custom intro song or maybe should use a custom intro outro [00:23:00] or aren't using intro outros, please share this episode with them.
Let them know you heard about Tim here on Network Effect.
And until next week, continue networking.
Links
Brian Colburn
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/briancolburn/
Twitter: https://x.com/CoachBColburn
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bcoolburn
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bcolburncoaching/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BColburnCoaching
Affiliate Links
Nowsite CRM and More - https://link.bcolburn.com/DB-Nowsite
Descript - https://link.bcolburn.com/Descript
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