Access to Anyone

Building strong (and profitable) relationships has as much to do with telling great stories as it does anything else. Our guest today Glenn McClanan has a lot to say about the topic. He is a master of combining the most futuristic narrative methods with its most ancient principles, and today he talks abot how his mission to transform storytelling into a truly cross-platform experience has connected him with people across the globe.

Topics include:

The power of simplicity.

The real reason to get involved with online communities.

Developing insight through exploration.

Glenn McClanan is the Creative Director of Rio Create LLC. In addition to being a  consulting on new media and immersive story projects, he is the creator of the immersive storyworld The Wyr Deception.. He is an Adjunct Professor in Transmedia at Montclair State University, guiding students to explore innovative techniques in narrative and branded storytelling. Previously, he led video development and operations at major online publishers such as Edmunds.com and About.com/New York Times. He graduated with honors from U.C. Berkeley and received his Graduate degree in Film Production from New York University.

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Michael Brooks and Philip McKenzie are the co-hosts of 2 Dope Boys & A Podcast, a trends and social insight show that keeps culture at the center of every conversation. On today's episode, they talk about creating a cultural economy, and how it inspires deeper connections and mutually rewarding relationships. They also discuss the power of personal circles, and explain why friendship and business are more interconnected than you might think.

Topics include:

Focusing on connecting instead of networking.

The relationship between culture and brand.

Valuable lessons on connection from Star Trek and Lady Gaga.

Why influence is really about culture (and not celebrity).

Michael Brooks is a contributing host for the four-time award winning independent political talk show, The Majority Report. He appears regularly as a political and cultural analyst on outlets including Huffpost Live, SirusXM, AlJazeera English, CCTV and France 24. His writing has appeared in Al Monitor, Al Jazeera, the Washington Post, among others, and he has blogged for leading trend watch site PSFK. He is also known for his impressions of cultural figures from Donald Trump to Nelson Mandela.

Philip L. McKenzie is the Global Curator for Influencer Conference, a global content platform that brings together tastemakers in the arts, entrepreneurship, philanthropy and technology to discuss the current and future state of influencer culture. Prior to that he was the Managing Partner of FREE DMC, an influencer marketing agency that specialized in integrated marketing strategy, digital content creation, and experiential events. In his roles with FREE DMC, Philip created strategic experiential campaigns for Jaguar, Sprite, Remy Martin and Belvedere Vodka. He is also a writer, rabid music fan and accomplished DJ.

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John Ruhlin went from being an Ohio farm boy to becoming the greatest salesperson in Cutco’s 60-year history by build relationships through giving gifts. Today, he’s the founder of The Ruhlin Group and author of the brand new book, Giftology. On this episode of Access to Anyone, John talks about the art and science of using gifts to cut through the noise, increase referrals, and strengthen retention.

Topics include:

The difference between a gift and swag

The paradox that makes gift-giving effective

The “turnaround time” on giving a gift

How to find out what someone likes

John’s founded his company, The Ruhlin Group, in 2000 and has experienced tremendous growth without ever changing its core mindset. With a focus on major strategy and “minor” details. John and co. have been bringing a guaranteed “wow” to industries such as financial services, manufacturing,, and even pro sports since the organization’s inception.

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Lee-Sean Huang and David Colby Reed are the co-founders of Foossa, a strategy and design consultancy with a mission to put the human experience back into the user experience. In what they call “community-centered design,” they fuse science with social innovation to solve problems in a community context. Today David and Lee-Sean talk about design thinking and how its methods translate to the art of networking.

Topics include:

Reframing the problem vs. solving the problem.

Why research is more about relationships than you might think.

Discovering hacks and innovating around them.

Applying design methodologies to social issues.

Lee-Sean Huang is the Creative Director of Foossa. As a designer, strategist, and storyteller, he collaborates with communities and organizations across the Americas, Europe, Africa and Asia to solve social innovation challenges. His work ranges from redesigning the experience of employee health and wellness at a Fortune 500 corporation to helping agencies of the United Nations.

David Colby Reed manages Foossa’s business operations and strategy practice. He combines insights from the behavioral sciences, economics, and user research. Much of his work concerns building inclusive financial services in the US and abroad, and, to do so, he has worked to bridge the public, private, and social sectors.

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Zvi Band didn’t just embrace the art of networking…he built an entire platform around it. By combining connectivity with tech, his software Contactually is ushering old school relationship management into the digital age. Today he sheds light on how the move from introverted developer to relationships expert inspired him to build his platform. He also explains why friendship is the most powerful asset you possess, and why you should never let a good connection go to waste.

Topics include:

How to organize your network.

Turning friendships into opportunities.

Measuring give-and-take.

Zvi Band is a software developer, entrepreneur, and CEO of Contactually. His other big focus is building Washington DC into a major startup hub, through the DC Tech Meetup and ProudlyMadeInDC.

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John Trigonis is a filmmaker, comic book writer, and poet. He’s also the man who literally wrote the book on how to launch a successful crowdfunding campaign. As Film Campaign Strategist for Indiegogo, John uses his artistic ingenuity to help other filmmakers raise the money they need to get their films made. Today he spills his secrets. No matter what industry you’re in, this episode will teach you everything you need to know about using the power of relationships to take your projects to completion.

Topics include:

How to pitch in the digital age.

Why creativity is at the root of all success.

How to manage the delicate balance between business and art.

John T. Trigonis has mentored hundreds of filmmakers and content creators worldwide to craft compelling crowdfunding experiences that regularly exceed their financial and creative goals. An independent filmmaker and successful crowdfunder himself, John is the author of Crowdfunding for Filmmakers.

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Chris Yeh brings a writer’s mindset to everything he does. He was one of the first influential bloggers an activity that eventually led to countless other opportunities—including his recent incarnation as co-author the New York Times bestseller The Alliance with good friends Reid Hoffman (founder of LinkedIn) and Ben Casnocha. He was also an early investor on many of Silicon Valley’s biggest success stories. Today he tells us how he moved from a creative writing student at Stanford to a startup maven.

Topics include:

The role of serendipity in success

Why you should immerse yourself in multiple fields

How to really identify trends

Chris Yeh has been building Internet businesses since He is a General Partner at Wasabi Ventures, a global venture fund, startup incubator, and consulting firm, where he leads the firm's investment committee. Previously, he was the first investor in and interim CEO of Ustream.TV, which provides an open and distributable platform for live interactive online video. He also helped start numerous other companies, including Symphoniq Corporation, TargetFirst, and Juno Online Services and FarSight Financial Services (divisions of D. E. Shaw & Co., L.P.).

Chris is an active angel investor and advisor to a wide array of startups. He is also the founder and Chairman of the Harvard Business School Technology Alumni Association. He’s earned two degrees from Stanford University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was named a Baker Scholar.

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After 20 years helping high-growth clients build strong and diversified executive teams, Marci Nigro decided she wanted to serve C-Level executives and companies in a more “disruptive” way by redefining how companies and candidates come together. Her answer was to found Appointed Partners, and organization that is essentially two connectedbusinesses under umbrella– one to serve companies and one to serve candidates. By taking an nontraditional and proactive approach to building meaningful relationships, Marci is reinventing the way C-Suite executives find and fill leadership opportunities.

We discuss…

Why the business world hasn’t really changed much in 85+ years (and how to use that to your advantage)

How to email influencers before a networking event (and how to get them to read the email)

Why you should never “name drop” unless you’re comfortable with someone calling that person and asking about you

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Leonard Kim’s first article on Quora became an instant smash, with over 5 million views in less than six months. It was all uphill from there. He also dispenses some killer advice for taking your content and your personal brand to the next level.

We discuss…

Why “laying it all out” upfront will lead to more clients and views.

Honing in on a niche.

Using your backstory to build your brand.

Leonard Kim is managing partner of InfluenceTree, where he and his team teach their clients how to build their brands, get featured in publications, and growth hack their social media. His content has been read over 10 million times, and has amassed a social media following of well over 100,000 people. He has been profiled and/or featured in publications and podcasts including Inc., Fortune, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Huffington Post, Success Hackers and Ask Altucher.

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John Corcoran is one hell of a networker. He’s worked at the White House, written for the Huffington Post, and built a booming law practice. At the root of all his successes is his incomparable talent for making powerful connections. In his latest venture, Smart Business Revolution, John brings his sharpest relationship hacks to light, helping others turn their personal networks and businesses into mighty enterprises. Today he shares those secrets with us.

Topics include:

Your conversations list (and how to build it).

What it really means to be of service to other people.

Turning your “help” into revenue.

Leaving smaller opportunities behind to make a larger impact.

How to make podcasting effective in an oversaturated market.

John Corcoran started his career working in politics, including as a Writer in the Clinton White House. Later, he returned to California as a Speechwriter in the California Governor's Office during the Davis Administration. Today he runs a boutique law firm, through which he helps small business owners and entrepreneurs grow and resolve disputes, as well as SmartBusinessRevolution.com and related podcast through which he shows business owners and entrepreneurs how to use relationships to attract more clients, customers and revenues. His writing has appeared in Forbes, Lifehacker, The Huffington Post, Business Insider, Art of Manliness, Boost Blog Traffic, and Dumb Little Man.

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