Revolutionize Your Business by Using Webcam Properly with Gary Rogers

Do you see it every day I go to networking sessions, I meet you at a lot of them or people give elevator pitches, and bless their hearts for people that are reading their elevator pitch. Now, people that aren't watching this can't see what I'm doing. But I'm looking away at my card, I'm reading an elevator pitch of my audiences there. That's the worst possible thing that you could do. If you don't know enough about your business, your product or service to have to read it. People just feel totally disconnected. It's the worst mistake that a person can make. Using a webcam, it is so important. And I preach it every day until the cows come home. I can't stress it enough. As soon as I looked down on last contact, you've got to look at that camera.

Hey, it's chuck here. And I'm so glad that you're listening to this episode. And I just want to take this quick moment right now to let you know about our free collaborators toolkit. And this episode is all about partnership and collaboration. And our guests share many resources, tools, and things that you can use to make collaboration and partnership easier in your business. So if you're looking for better ways to grow and scale your business, through collaborations, and strategic partnerships, this free collaborators toolkit is going to contain the best resources from our workshops, as well as contributions from our guests. And these tools could be the missing link that you've been looking for. And they're going to help you to solve everyday business challenges, and access, highly effective ideas that can help and grow your business exponentially. I know they've helped me and I know they're going to help you as well. And the best part about these tools is that they're completely free. And our gift to you for being a valued member of our community, and a subscriber to the show. So you can get access to all of the resources contained inside the Collaborators Toolkit today by visiting the website at WWW.collaboratorsunite.com/toolkit. That address again is www.collaboratorsunite.com/toolkit. Go ahead and register today get access to all the resources, and I'm gonna see you on the inside. Now, here's the episode.

Hello, everybody. And welcome back to the creative collaboration show. This is Chuck Anderson, your host. And this is the show where we want to inspire you to stop working alone, get some help and collaborate with others. And there's no better person to collaborate with than my guests today, especially if you're a speaker, or anyone who uses their voice or specifically a webcam for their for getting their message out there. Because this guy is an absolute master at using that as a platform and has really, I would say perfected the idea of making money with your webcam. And so that's what we're going to talk about today. I am so honored to have Gary Rogers with me here today. Gary, welcome to the program.

Thank you. Hi, I couldn't have said that any better. What a great compliment. I love working with you. You are a master of what you're doing. It's honor, it's an honor to be on your program.

Awesome. Well, that's very nice of you to say, and I'm going to make you the star of the show today. And and this is something that, you know, this whole idea of, you know, getting a message out, it's been something that I've been doing for almost 25 years. And before there were webcams when we were just doing the handheld video camera, and we had to try to figure out how to digitize it and all of that. And you think, Well, I've been doing this for a while do I really have anything to learn about webcams and speaking on camera, in particular. And it turns out, you can always learn something, and you being a veteran in the in the business, have a lot of really great tips to share. So Gary, thank you. And I'm gonna let you tell your story because you have a wonderful introduction. I love how you introduce yourself. And you know, you and I have been on a lot of networking meetings together. And so I'll go ahead and let you tell your story and introduce you introduce yourself to our audience.

So thank you. As you can see, I'm an old man, you mentioned you've been doing this for 30 years I've been doing this for almost 60 years, not with a webcam that wasn't even invented. it, but I started many, many years ago as a salesman with three M Company. I enjoyed sales and did well at it and they promoted me to a sales trainer teaching other people how to sell, and eventually made me a training manager teaching a lot of different subjects, one of which was public speaking skills. And I did something in those days I talked 3am into putting a video camera and a video recorder very expensive recorder. This was years before home video. It costs a lot of money in those days to put this industrial video equipment in there. But we videotape their corporate managers when they were giving presentations, it revolutionized our training, people could see the mistakes that we were trying to get them to avoid in our training. When they saw themselves, a picture's worth 1000 words. And it really revolutionized what we were doing. I really fell in love with video at that time and that 10 years later, I left three M company and started my own television production company. I spent the next 35 years producing television commercials, infomercials, corporate videos and and some movies. Our clients included some of the great companies in the world that we produce projects for AT and T Motorola Mitsubishi Coldwell Banker, Procter and Gamble, I sold my business about 13 years ago and retired, that lasted all of two weeks, I got so bored, I knew I had to do something else. And just then webcams were starting to become popular on the internet. You can reach anybody in the world if you had one of these little devices, and an internet connection. And I thought, well, that's something I could certainly do. And I've spent the last step about a dozen years now, coaching primarily entrepreneurs that sell a product or service or a course, online on the internet.

That is amazing. And thank you so much for, you know, the, I'd say the advice and the the the tips that you've already given me because it's even though I've been doing this a while, there's always something to learn. I'm a lifelong learner, and, and someone with your experience, and you're able to see the things that people are doing wrong, and help them to adjust so that they can do so much better. And and so one of the things that I want to talk a little bit about with our audience here, you think a webcam is just a webcam, you put it there, you're on Zoom meetings all day long. It's the reality of the world we live in right now. I'm on Zoom meetings, probably six or more times per day. So this while I'm on my webcam all the time. And it turns out, Gary, that a webcam is not just a webcam, we don't just put it there and stare blankly at the screen, because there's a problem with that. So let's talk a little bit about the problem. Like why does it matters so much that we use webcams correctly?

Well, everybody's got a PhD watching television. You know, incidentally, if something is somebody's doing the right thing or the wrong thing. When the pandemic started, news anchors would talk to people, they couldn't send out camera crews. They had to talk to people on their computers. And Norah O'Donnell or Lester Holt's the news anchor would talk to them. And they were talking to their audience looking into their cameras, but the people that they were interviewing on their laptops, were looking down at the laptop, and right now, anybody that's viewing this, I've lost connection with everybody. I'm not looking at them, I've got to look into that camera, if they want to feel like I'm talking to them. And people just have to learn. It's a simple mistake, that 99% of Everybody I talked to makes every single day of my life. If you're on a laptop, which most people use, your tendency is to want to look at the person you're talking to. And in order to do that, you got to look down and as soon as you do that you've lost connection with the people you're talking to. When I started my coaching online, I knew from my production experience that I had to look straight into the camera if I wanted people to feel connected with me, it drove me crazy. I spent the first three years I'm looking straight into that camera, and I couldn't see the people that I was talking to. And I want to see that people are you are just going like that. And I want to see that now I've got a big smile I, I can see everything that you're doing. I learned a trick a lot of years ago. And now I teach all of my students how they can actually see the people that they're talking to not down on the computer screen, but actually see them as they're talking to them and have the people they're talking to feel like they're talking directly to them, it revolutionized my business, when I found out how to do that. And now I teach it to literally everybody, and everybody that does it, it changes their business for the rest of their lives if they're using a webcam.

Now, I have some instructions for my audience before we continue here, because Gary just did something really cool here, he demonstrated the problem. And if you're listening to this on a podcast, which is just audio, you will not have seen what he just did, I highly encourage you to come back to our website and watch the video version of this. And I want you to look very closely at what Gary just did. Because what he demonstrated looking away from the camera. And when you do that, it looks like you're you're not paying attention. And I think that as humans, we crave that connection. And, you know, when where if you and I were having coffee, and we're in a restaurant, we'd be looking right at each other. And we're having that conversation. But here we are, in the post pandemic world or however you want to describe it, where now we live in this virtual world where we have these zoom meetings all the time. And and so we could be looking here, I've got a second screen, I could be looking over there, something just popped up. There's the time I look over there, and I'm not looking at you. And there is a feeling isn't there. Like there's a there's a It feels different when you notice the person is not looking at you.

You see it every day I go to networking sessions, I meet you at a lot of them or people give elevator pitches, and bless their hearts, poor people, they're reading their elevator pitch. Now people that aren't watching this can't see what I'm doing. But I'm looking away at my card. I'm reading an elevator pitch of my audiences there. That's the worst possible thing that you could do. If you don't know enough about your business, your product, your service to have to read it. People just feel totally disconnected. It's the worst mistake that a person can make using a webcam, it is so important. And I preach it every day until the cows come home. I can't stress it enough. As soon as I looked down on lost contact, you've got to look at that camera.

Yeah, you know, it's so true. And I see this happen on networking events all the time where someone is speaking, they look away. And then what do I do? I also look away, right? I'm no longer connected with what they're saying. And you make an excellent point. When you're at a networking event, and you're, it's your turn to share. Maybe you've got a minute, maybe you've got two minutes, is it possible for you to memorize two minutes worth of content? And I would challenge to say that yes, you absolutely could but but the Gary like what, what would you suggest there? Because so many people are reading it? And why are they reading it instead of just you know, memorizing it and and just saying it from the heart.

Because they think those words are so important that if they screw up and forget one, they're not going to come across well, and they're making the worst mistake that they can possibly make. Yeah, maybe you'll forget a word or two but you're talking to your audience from the heart and they sense that your audience does sense that now this is just one point in using a webcam properly. So many people don't have proper lighting, proper sound, just little techniques that you see everyday on television, you if you saw a news anchor sitting down in the corner of their screen, like so many people do when they're on their webcam. All they've got to do is fill up the screen and get a little lighting on their face to look professional, if you will. And you see it every day. People in their bedroom with a dark light or a window behind them which makes them just very dark, little tips that are so easy to do and bless their hearts. Most people don't know how to use a webcam properly to really come across professional as Soon as he turned it on,

I, you know, if you're at a networking event, I think this this this point about looking professional people today, kind of discount how important that is. And it is extremely important, we use it in our business all the time. And so I agree with all the points you're making, I've even seen people on networking events, they're with no shirt on, they're in bed, and I get it, some of the, you know, with the time changes and all of that, but it's still it kind of makes people uncomfortable is when you're not displaying yourself in a professional way. Or, or with that, it's like you want to look away, because it's like, should I be looking at them, or should I not be looking at them. And so you know it, we're there to let each other know about our respective businesses. And so we just for those few minutes, to show up a little differently, so that it makes people comfortable and makes people want to connect with us.

But I think my clients are the same as your clients. We are in the second fastest growth industry in the whole world. And that's the coaching industry, second fastest growth industry in the world. And this is primarily the reason for that is so many people all over the world are leaving their jobs or starting their own businesses. And this little device allows you to reach anybody on the face of the earth with an internet connection. And if you're not using a webcam right now, you you ought to be using it because it can bring you so many more people than you can ever reach out getting on an airplane and spending airfare lodging meals rental car, if you told me the day would come years ago, when I was doing my business a day would come when I could get in front of a little webcam like this in my own office and talk to people like I'm talking to you, or your audience, I would have thought you are on something. Yeah. But we're here today. And it is the most powerful promotional tools sales tool and training tool I've ever seen in my life. And most people just don't know how to use it or don't want to use it because it's frightening. It's out of their comfort level, it requires public speaking. And you know that the number one fear that most people have, is speaking in front of other people. And if you get on a webcam, it's even more frightening because it's not natural. I'm trying to smile at your audience. And I don't see your audience out there. But I know they're out there. If people are just uncomfortable, and they're missing a golden opportunity to expand their business by properly using a webcam.

And you know, a webcam is so powerful. And this is where we're going to tie this into the theme of our show, which is creating partnerships and collaborations and really effectively working with others. And we believe that entrepreneurship is not a solo exercise, this whole word of solopreneur is not my favorite word. Because all of the years that I was trying to be a solopreneur I didn't have any money in the bank account. And and so your business only grows to the extent that you do but also to the extent that your network does. And networking and collaborating and working together with others is really the key to fast business growth. And in today's virtual world, this idea of the web, we're using the webcam, but more importantly, not just a webcam, but creating connection in a digital arena. And so this is so important. Now, Gary, I know you do have this free webcam workshop, which we're going to talk about here in a bit. But let's tie this in like, like how is this webcam going to help people to make these better connections and partnerships.

Let me tell you how important it is. I learned this the hard way. When I retired and came back and started coaching on the internet. I had a lot of friends that told me Gary, you're gonna have to spend a lot of money on Google ads and Facebook ads, if you want anybody to know what you do and how you can help them. And that made a lot of sense to me. I had never done anything on the internet before I had no list. Nobody knew me on the internet. I knew my subject. But I did exactly what they said I spent a ton of money on Google ads, Facebook ads, webinars, emailing and it would get me a client here and a client there but I was spending more money than I was bringing in and this was a period of three years. I was losing money. Now I may look down On Friday, I realized that, Gary, you've either got to find some way of exposing your product to your service, your company, your business, or I got to go back to retirement. And I had a good friend, tell me about networking organizations that allow you to do an elevator pitch, for free, all you got to do is get in front of your webcam, and usually they'll give you at least 60 seconds. And that's all to say something important to attract attention. And I thought, oh, my gosh, that sounds interesting. I went to one of these networking organizations and saw people just really struggling. And I decided I would create an elevator pitch, and invite people to spend 30 minutes with me, in a free zoom session, I felt if I could get in front of people, and help them in my subject, they would be more interested in spending their money and taking my course, it literally revolutionized my business, I got a chance to know these people, they got a chance to know me a little bit people buy from people that they have a comfort level with. Now I teach all of my students how to do exactly what I did, it revolutionized my business, I was ready to quit. But people started to get to know me. And now I teach other people how to give elevator pitches. And we actually go one step further, I produce a video for them a promotional video, where they are not confined with just networking organization, they can send that video and there the spokesperson, literally out to 1000s or millions of people, it opens doors, unlike anything you've ever seen, and it doesn't cost any money to do that, literally.

You know, you make a really good point there. And that's that elevator pitch where you're given this 62nd opportunity to share what you do. And that's not a lot of time. In some cases, it seems like a lot of time, but it's really not a lot of time. So you really have to choose your words wisely. And when you don't get it right. You're on an off cycle. Okay, glad that's over. But did anybody reach out to you did was there any messages in your inbox? And if the answer is no, then it really wasn't an effective one. And when you really nail this, your calendar, or your inbox can fill up, it's amazing. In fact, sometimes just doing the follow up from these meetings when you really nail it, because I've had my off days, but when I really nail it, it's like, Whoa, that's a lot. I better allocate some more time to this follow up. There's, you know, so you know, some of the takeaways from today is, webcam is super important. But then also, it's what you say while you're on that webcam, that's really going to get people to lean in and wants to do business with you.

Absolutely. The words are so powerful, every words got to count. If you only got 60 seconds, you really get the need to get some powerful words. But then once you've got those words, then the biggest problem is you've got to deliver them with power with conviction. And that's the biggest problem that most people have an again, we go back to public speaking, it's the number one fear that most human beings have. It just most people, they just don't want to do it. And it's really hurting them. Anybody could do what you and I are doing here with a webcam. But it has to be learned. It has to be taught. And we're learning new things every day. You mentioned that you are a lifelong learner. When you stop learning, they might as well bury you really Yeah. Nuff said.

Yeah, well, it's a good point because the world is always changing. And a good mentor of mine always said that if you stop learning, you're you're going to be well prepared for a world that no longer exists. Good point, right world that no longer exists, it's moving. So if we're not moving with it, if we're not learning and growing and adapting, then we are going to be left behind wondering, you know, who stole my cheese? Where's where's the money? Right? Like, there is just so it's so important to be learning and, you know, I meant speaking of mentors, you know, that was that was a quote that stood out for me. One of the things that we want to inspire our audience to do is to learn from people. Get a mentor or whatever it takes, you know, you're a great mentor, we're we're going to share the details about your free work webcam workshop, which is really important. But But Gary, how has having a mentor or learning played an impact in the growth of your business and and who are some of your favorites to learn from?

Well, it literally built my business until I started networking, networking, giving elevator pitches, and associating myself online with people and asking people to get to know me, in a free little workshop. I was struggling, I was ready to quit, literally. And it made all the difference in the world. In my business, I've had so many mentors, I wouldn't be lost without good people that knew more than I knew. Literally, you're only as good as the people that you surround yourself with. And I really mean that.

Yeah, and I think that's, that's really a testament to why this networking is so powerful, because we're able to surround ourselves with amazing people. And then we get to have conversations like this scary. I mean, a month ago, we didn't know each other really well. And now we've had a few times not Well, a number of interactions so far. And and it's nice to have friends like you in this business, who, you know, if I have a question I can reach out to and vice versa. And, you know, we benefit each other.

Oh, absolutely. I had none of my group, I had you in front of my group a couple of weeks ago, you were talking about your project. In affiliate programs, you are a master at it. And every single one of the people in my group, were just, they just went away, feeling thrilled and wanting to get in touch with you. And now they're coming to your networking group, you are a master of what you do. But it doesn't matter if nobody knows about you. And you get out in front of people in networking organizations, I got to know you that way. Now my people are getting to know you, it just pays off in spades.

There are a lot of great networking groups, which which Kerry and I both can recommend to you. And to prepare you for getting the most out of that, you'll want to attend Gary's free workshop, because he's not only going to talk about webcam, but he's going to talk about the elevator pitch, and you know, some of the public speaking things that you need to know so that you are prepared, right, and so, a bit about

Lighting and sound. And there are just so many things that we touch on that are very simple, but most people have no idea how to implement them. And I would like to invite every one of your listeners and your viewers to join me in a free and free webcam workshop, you're going to leave a link just below the video player and on your audio listeners, you've got a link that you will provide for them I understand. So just go to the link after you vote watched or listen to the to the podcast, and sign up at a time as quickly as possible. And we'll get a chance to get to know each other and have a lot of fun. I've directed a lot of Hollywood stars in my career, including Academy Award winning actor, Charlton Heston, and I tell everybody, if I could direct Moses, I'm not going to have any problem at all directing any one of your viewers or your listeners working with their webcams. I invite everybody to take advantage that I promise you, it will greatly improve everything you do for the rest of your life. If you're doing anything with a webcam, and if you're not using a webcam, you got to start doing it.

You know at the time where I took a workshop Gary, I'd already been using cameras for 25 years. And I learned something in the first five minutes of that workshop that has already changed the way that I approach my networking, my business, my workshops, and everything. And and that was just in the first five minutes of a 90 minute workshop. There was so many other great golden nuggets there that you're going to learn. And I will lean into my audience right now and say, look, it doesn't matter how long you've been doing this or how successful you are. I guarantee that there's something there that you don't even know that you don't know that you're doing. And until you become aware of it you cannot really change Gary is a master Coach, add that and it's going to be time well spent. So we'll make sure that all the links and the information here beneath this video links in the show notes. It's free. So go for it. The price can't be beat. But I guarantee that your time is valuable. And this will be time well spent. And so just like this episode has been time well spent for me, Gary, and I really appreciate your generosity and, and all of the things that you do. And I know that you and I have lots more to do together. So before we sign off, I want to ask you a couple of questions. And one is, I mean, we talked a lot about business, we talked about webcams, we talked about networking, We've even talked about learning, and learning and is is a precursor to growing. And, you know, we're we I always believe that our business does not grow more than the extent we're able to grow ourselves. And so you know, this has been a giant personal growth exercise for me over the last 30 plus years since I started my first business. And and so much of the learning that I've received this from books. And so I asked every one of my guests, what is the must read book that you would recommend that all business owners or just human beings read, because it would change their business or change their life.

It's been a best seller for years and years and years still is a best seller How to Win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie years and years ago, it's one of the best books that anybody, no matter what they're doing can read.

You know, that is a book that has not been mentioned on previous episodes. But I will tell you that I was very blessed in the early 90s When I was just that 20 Somethings starting my own business. And I thought I knew everything. A good friend of mine handed me a copy of that book and I read it. And it changed the way I was net back then networking is that you actually had to travel and go to a networking event. And, you know, I was making a mistake where I thought it was all about me telling my story. And my takeaway from that book, and I'd love to hear yours as well is to be interested by asking questions, instead of trying so darn hard to be interesting. And he tells the story about where he would go to networking events and just ask questions, not say a word about himself. And people would be walking away going, oh, you know that Dale Carnegie is the most interesting guy I've ever met. And he didn't say a word about himself. And that's what stood out. For me.

It's a key. Treat others like you want to be treated the golden rule. It never goes out of date. And there's so much wealth as knowledge and information in there that applies to every business person, or every person, period. And it simply doesn't go out of date. Now, when it was written, he was on trains. We don't go on trains anymore in this country. But the same principles apply. Getting to know people letting them get to know you and letting other people excel and promoting them and helping them and serving them once you are kind to other people. It just comes back to you. Oh, I like that person. Chuck and Chuck just a wonderful person to work with. Because he'd been nice to me. It just reciprocate, reciprocate, I can't even talk anymore. It comes back to you in spades.

It sure does. And this is one of the reasons that I love podcasting. And I love doing these interviews because it challenges me to be interested and not to be interesting. And even in my workshops. Now. We do teach a lot of content, but it's more of a drawing out. Let's ask questions of our audience and be interested in them. Rather than trying to present myself as being the star of the show. Let them be the star of the show. And that's a webcams allow us to do that.

Go ahead. Yes, absolutely. And I am on a lot of podcasts and so are you. And I see a lot of podcasts that hosts they don't know how to involve their guests and get them talking. I learned years and years ago six questions that are the most powerful questions I ever learned in my life. I've got them right here. I teach it to my students. They're called open ended questions. Who, what, when, why where and how? Because they can't be answered. With a simple yes or a simple No. If I said to you, do you like pa get cha just said. Junkie like podcasts?

Yes, I do, Gary. I love podcasts.

Everything ruin. You just ruin my point.

Oh, yeah, yeah.

People say yes. Yeah, the conversation stops. Now I got a little more out of you. Yes, I do. I love podcasts. Most people just say yes. But if I rephrase the question to one of those six who, what, when, why, where now? I'll just try it. Chuck, what are some of the things that you like about podcasts? Now, you can't say yes. You can't say no, you've got to come up with a more detailed response. And it's the most powerful thing I ever learned in sales, getting people involved asking questions, listening to them, find out how or if they're a prospect to how you can help them through good old questions and listening to those questions.

That is an amazing thing. And and it was a good demonstration. I did start with the word yes, I've just been trained so much to, to expand on that. But it's an excellent point. And those are the types of questions that make podcasting or consultations as a coach, or business networking, so powerful, be interested in that human being across from you, and not so much on about how interesting you can be to them. It's not about impressing them, it's about getting to know them. And when we get to know each other, we can do more with each other. And that's really the purpose of this show, the collaboration show, we want you to partner with people, we want you to collaborate with people, we want you to be as successful in your business as possible. And we never do that alone. This whole idea of being a solopreneur is such nonsense, because nobody really does this alone. And so Carrie, I'm so glad to have you in my network. And, and so you are my go to guy when it comes to anything with video, and specifically webcam and so much more, so much more. And I know that our folks are going to be well served when they attend your workshop. And so again, I just want to remind everybody that that button is beneath the video, and link in the show notes. Go take Gary's free webcam workshop. You'll be glad you did. And and I know that you'll make more money the following week. Because you did do that. So Gary, thank you so much for your generosity, and, and the workshop.

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on. Just love working with you. You are a master.

I really appreciate so Gary as we bring this episode in for a landing. And we send our audience back out into the world to go and sign up for your workshop. If you were to give our audiences one final piece of advice or words of wisdom, what would you say to them,

Just go out and work hard. And don't be afraid of mistakes. That's the best way to learn by making mistakes.

Excellent words, the end of this episode by Gary, thank you so much. And to our audience. Thank you. Please go sign up for Gary's workshop. And make sure you come back here, we'll always have another amazing guest. We cover off amazing topics that help you to grow your business. And in the meantime, never give up on your big dream. Keep moving forward. Keep being awesome. And we'll see you here for the next one. Thank you everyone.