Ramon Ray, What It Takes to Be a Celebrity CEO – InnovaBuzz 417
Ramon Ray, Smart Hustle Media
In this episode, I’m really excited to have as my guest, Ramon Ray, an in-demand global keynote speaker, entrepreneur, best-selling author, and event producer / host. He’s the founder of Smart Hustle Media, which inspires and educates small business owners.
Ramon started four small companies and sold two of them. “Celebrity CEO”, Ramon’s fourth book, is about building a community and personal brand. He’s been invited to testify at the United States Congress, and invited to speak at the White House. Over his extensive career, Ramon has written thousands of articles, spoken to thousands of business owners and impacted hundreds of thousands of small business owners and entrepreneurs to help their businesses thrive.
In our discussion, Ramon talked to me about:
- The Celebrity CEO Concept – beginning with a smile
- The power of human connections
- How to be magnetic and earn attention
John DeMato in episode 369 introduced us to Ramon.
Listen to the podcast to find out more.
Listen to the Podcast
You'll rarely be well-known to everyone in the world, but you can surely be well-known to a small segment of people. @RamonRay on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet
Show Notes from this episode with Ramon Ray of Smart Hustle Media
Key points and takeaways from this episode include:
- It is – our face, our smile, and who we are that represent our brand.
- The Three Key Pillars of Celebrity CEO:
- Ask for a smile before you ask for a sale.
- Build a fan base. Focus on building a community of people who want to be around you.
- Educate them to a sale.
- You’ll rarely be well-known to everyone in the world, but you can surely be well-known to a small segment of people.
- Be clear about who you are not serving. It’s scary but the narrower you go, the better.
- Always begin with a smile. Start a conversation so that people would feel more inclined to listen to your pitch. You can get ahead every single time if you can find yourself doing that very genuinely in business.
- Hard-selling scares people way. You gain friends through soft-selling and every day you can sell them a bit more and serve them in new ways.
- People may not but today. They may not buy tomorrow or they may not buy at all, but you can refer them to someone else or vice versa.
- If you can build your community and become a Celebrity CEO, you will always win.
- You can start building a community by getting people’s attention and educating them.
- Get attention. Broadcast your smile. Let people know that you are out there.
- Think of yourself as a publisher. Publishing is teaching. It is through teaching that you build a relationship, and it through a relationship that you get to coach somebody.
- Getting customers is nice, but what you want to get instead are people who would click “like”, comment on your posts, and wait for your videos, who are not your customers but your fans. They like what you do and they’re interested in whatever it is that you are selling.
- Fans tell others. The ideal structure is that people become your customer, they buy more from you, and they refer people to you, but it doesn’t have to be in that order. You may have a fan who hasn’t bought from you but will refer people to you.
- When you have a fan, you are in their head. They remember you.
- Think about how else can you have value from your relationship with people even if they’re not buying.. You’ll never know who’s who. Connecting with people is the way to learn more about who else can you connect to and who else can you learn from.
- Have the ability to explore and be open. Think of the world as a world of abundance. If you’re in the right event and you’re around the right people, you are going to bump into success. And if your mind is open, you may bump into success that is defined differently than you thought it would be.
- Everybody has the ability to be magnetic. Some just have a special sauce for doing it.
- Be witty and avoid taking yourself too seriously. Be interested in people. It doesn’t mean you need to have a loud voice, move quickly, or be animated, but it does add to a bit of magnetism. Be introspective. Speak less but with a powerful punch.
- Being magnetic is not about putting a performance to get attention. It’s about using and leveraging your unique skills whilst focusing on building the connection first.
- Having mutual respect is part of the relationship. It’s easy to go on a relationship when there’s money on the table, but most of the time, just talking whilst walking in the park is a lot better.
Always begin with a smile. Start a conversation so that people would feel more inclined to listen to your pitch. You can get ahead every single time if you can find yourself doing that very genuinely in business. @RamonRay on #InnovaBuzz… Click To Tweet
The Buzz – Our Innovation Round
Here are Ramon’s answers to the questions of our innovation round. Listen to the conversation to get the full scoop.
- #1 thing to be more innovative – Listen and dream without barriers.
- Best thing for new ideas – Going to events, reading books, and listening to people.
- Favourite tool for innovation – Turning the Flywheel by Jim Collins.
- Keep project/client on track – Constant communication. Be in touch with clients regularly and document it.
- Differentiate – Be yourself and publicize yourself. Use the power of social media, videos, and podcasts to keep showcasing yourself and showing up over and over again. You may be able to let your work speak for you and you’ll have a level of success, but if you’re trying to advance, remember that there is always somebody who’s ready to surpass you, so you need to stay in your game for that sake.
To Be a Leader
Just do it! Don’t let perfection stop you. Nike is not the only brand that needs to do it, we, as small business owners need to just do it as well.
Reach Out
You can reach out and thank Ramon through their website.
Suggested Guest
Ramon suggested we have a conversation with “Killer Pitch Master” Precious Williams and award-winning small business champion, Kedma Ough. So Precious and Kedma, keep an eye on your inboxex for an invitation from us to the InnovaBuzz Podcast, courtesy of Ramon Ray.
Links
- Website – Ramon Ray
- Website – Smart Hustle Media
- Podcast – Smart Hustle Business Podcast
- Twitter – @RamonRay
Click here to get a copy of the Celebrity CEO Blueprint for repeat, better, and more customers!
Book
Get in touch with Ramon, let him know how you enjoyed his episode on the InnovaBuzz Podcast, and get a free signed copy of his book, The Celebrity CEO.
Cool Things About Ramon
- He has shared the stage with celebrity business thought leaders such as Seth Godin, Simon Sinek, Gary Vaynerchuk.
- He has interviewed all five Shark Tank Sharks – Daymond John, Lori Greiner, Barbara Corcoran, Robert Herjavec, and Mark Cuban.
- He plays the piano.
Be yourself and publicize yourself. Use the power of social media, videos, and podcasts to keep showcasing yourself and showing up over and over again. @RamonRay on #InnovaBuzz podcast Click To Tweet