Stone Payton with Business RadioX®

Intro: [00:00:00] Coming to you live from the Business RadioX studio in Woodstock, Georgia. This is Fearless formula with Sharon Cline.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:17] And welcome to Fearless Formula on this fearless Formula Friday. And I’m so excited. I’m looking at Stone. I have Stone Payton here in the studio. He is the managing partner of Business RadioX and I wanted to have him come in because really the reason I’m here is because of you, Stone.

Stone Payton: [00:00:37] Well, that’s awfully gracious, but we are so delighted to have you in the Business RadioX family. You’re producing such marvelous work. The people you’re meeting, the stories you’re capturing. It’s fascinating. I love listening to your show.

Sharon Cline: [00:00:49] Oh, that’s so sweet. Okay, we’re done with the show today. That’s all I wanted to. We’re out. No, but actually, I’m excited to talk to you because there’s some really exciting things that we’re doing here in Woodstock with Business RadioX. But I don’t know that we’ve actually really had a moment in this kind of forum to really talk about it. So I was wondering if you would kind of share some of the fun things that we’re doing.

Stone Payton: [00:01:10] Well, it’s been a fun couple of years. Holly and I have been here almost two years. I think April will be two years. And so we’ve had this studio here and this is one of 19 studios, physical studios like this that we have. And we’re in 57 markets total. But I mean, this is the best studio right out of all of us. Of course, we have so many marvelous shows and we’re serving so many different. What would you call them? Like little ecosystems, different specific niches. And maybe some shows wouldn’t hold a lot of interest for one person, but it means everything in the world to another, Right? And so that’s a lot of fun. But you and I and our other hosts, we get a chance to to meet a lot of different people from a lot of a lot of different walks of life. And it just it is so much fun. And so the the core mission and purpose, that really hasn’t changed. You know, our tagline is amplifying the voice of business. And the the business model for us is helping professional services, B2B folks build real relationships real fast. This thing works. It always works. It it never doesn’t work. So we keep doing that. And so we have these clients and we help them build these custom shows and we show them how to use the platform to to serve first, serve early, serve often.

Stone Payton: [00:02:28] And as a result of that, either strengthen those existing relationships. Can’t think of a better way to cultivate a new relationship than to have them come on the show and share their story and promote their work. So that continues. The only shift in that, I guess, is we’re doing a lot more of it than we were two years ago or a year ago or even six months ago. And then largely due to, you know. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Largely due to you your specific input. And David Samuel Diesel, David Inc finally cracked the code on how to serve people that that are not our traditional client and they don’t have custom shows every week. That’s right where we where we do all that they’re smaller companies, solopreneurs startups, retail you know, and they’re just kind of getting their thing off the ground, you know. And our traditional fee structure is a little out of reach for them. And but now we’ve got this thing, we call it Main Street Warriors. And our creed is defending capitalism, promoting small business and supporting our local community. And I don’t care where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, you know, whether you’ve got an idea or a cocktail napkin or you’re staying up at night figuring out how to scale. Without exception, everyone I meet that is trying to get something going. They all genuinely want to contribute to not only the business community but the community at large.

Stone Payton: [00:03:58] But by the same token, our traditional, you know, our fee structure for our traditional clients, it just doesn’t make sense. And I couldn’t, you know, in good conscience say here, you know, invest 150 bucks a month to sometimes as much as $5,000 a month. And and here’s the return of investment you’re going to get. I mean, look, there was a time for me to believe me. I don’t care how good it works. You know, I wouldn’t have had that kind of money to to make the investment. So we created this Main Street Warriors. We established that creed with your help and and David’s. And then what makes it so cool is we created a membership structure where these folks can pool their resources. And instead of paying 1250 a month, they pay 1250 a year or I think we give them a break. It’s 1250 a year. If you do an annual 125 bucks a month. So whatever that comes out to. Right. And but for that, and anyone who is serious about growing a business, if you don’t have $125 a month to invest in something like this, you know, once you believe in it, I’m not saying you ought to automatically believe in it, but once you feel like it’s a. An idea that maybe you ought to revisit if this is really what you want to do, that’s well, that’s well within reason, even for the smallest of companies.

Stone Payton: [00:05:09] But that way they can pool their resources and we can let them tap into a lot of the same benefits. Again, not a weekly custom show, but they can sponsor episodes, they can sponsor series, they can sponsor us when we go out to ribbon cuttings and on site broadcast, especially here locally. Right. And they can one of the greatest benefits for anyone in our system going back to our core of building relationships is just being able to it’s nice to get out in the marketplace and do something nice for them by simply just reaching out and inviting them to come in the studio and share their story and promote their work, or in some cases even hop on a Zoom call and share their story and promote their work. You talk about a great foundation for for I mean, you’re giving them such a gift, right? And so for initiating that that brand new relationship, at least for me, it’s so much easier than trying to get someone to have a cup of coffee. And then you explain what you do and I explain what I do. And to me, it allows you to give that gift to serve first, right? To serve early, to to serve often. And so so that is something we can provide our main street warriors so they get a the booking calendar link, of course, but also they get a priority booking code so they can reach out and invite someone to come on a show that they sponsor because they are sponsoring that show.

Stone Payton: [00:06:35] Those people come in. We give them plenty of love like we always do in the studio. If depending on the the the mix of the of the audience, the mix of the guest in the studio, we will likely do a live read for that Main street warrior like today’s episode is brought to you in part by XYZ company. Go check them out that has value. And then when we publish the episode, we can say Today’s episode is brought to you by we let them at that level. There is another level called Special Forces. With you and David, the creativity never ends. But but that core membership, that basic membership of the main street warriors every for that 1250 a year, 100 and quarter a month every quarter they can actually organize a dedicated episode. Oh, that’s awesome. And so they can reach out and this can be totally dedicated to. And so every guest is their guest. It’s not like they’re just fast tracking someone to come in. So between all of that, they’re getting to tap into some of the benefits. And candidly, some of them this hasn’t happened yet because we’re only formally launched this. What was it like the first or second week of December was that it was.

Sharon Cline: [00:07:44] In the like late fall? Yeah.

Stone Payton: [00:07:46] Okay. So it hasn’t happened yet. But what I really do think is going to happen, some of these folks will grow into traditional clients for us. So I mean, yeah, we’re nice people and all that, but it’s good business for us too, and it allows us to fully live into that mission of of serving the community, the business community and the community at large. So I’m really fired up about that. And then and so I mentioned very briefly, there’s kind of a top tier level called Special Forces where it’s it’s it’s really only a half step from being a traditional client. On the other end of the continuum, there is something called supporting troops $12.50 a month. They can still tap into some of what I’m describing, just not at the same frequency. And I mean, I don’t know anybody that, you know, that can’t afford.

Sharon Cline: [00:08:32] Right. That’s coffee or something.

Stone Payton: [00:08:34] But think about the number of people that that are in that position. They’re trying to get something off the ground. Their heart is there. They want to support the business community, but they don’t have a practical mechanism to do it. When there’s a fundraiser, you know, they don’t want to give $12.50. Right. But a lot of $12.50 is, you know, we pool that. We can put together a fundraiser basket for the Main Street warriors like we did last night over at Diesel. David’s Mingle, his grand opening at his new spot. And we can help page read over here at Limitless Disabilities buy a bus, get a new soundproof wall when you pull those those resources. So first of all, thank you. Thank you. Diesel David, also, as probably many of you know by now, if you’ve been listening because you’ll hear us mention diesel, David a great deal. Not only did Diesel David’s help us with all that, think it through. Not only did Diesel David want to be a Main Street warrior, he said, I want to be the title sponsor. So he’s actually the title sponsor for the Cherokee chapter of Main Street Warriors. And that’s the other cool news When the other studio partners got wind of what we’re doing now, they want to do it. And so now Business RadioX corporate, which I’m that’s one of the hats I wear. We’re licensing that whole structure to them as well. So right now the participating studios are all of the studios that I have a hand in Pensacola, Tallahassee. Chattanooga and then, of course, here in Woodstock. Am I leaving one out? All of these that I have some financial interest or some direct operating role in. But don’t be surprised. And that’s why I say Cherokee chapter. That’s right. Because you’re gonna have Chattanooga chapter. You’re going to, you know, that kind of thing. So it must.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:20] Be very satisfying to see it take off so well.

Stone Payton: [00:10:22] It is. It’s fun. And I can’t I can’t take any real credit for it. The only I mean, the only you.

Sharon Cline: [00:10:28] Can you did come up with this concept and we talked about it. So I did think, wow, this is really thinking outside the box because you are including people who are a smaller business like me.

Stone Payton: [00:10:37] Well, I really wanted to do that because and what happened was I came to town. I’ve never been a networking guy. I’ve never been that involved in my local community. It was always, you know, like a more distance arm’s length relationship. I mean, we served our clients well even in the training consulting business and even in my role at Business RadioX. But I got here and I met all these wonderful people and and I’m just scratching my head. It took me a, you know, a year and a half, but I’m like, there’s got to be a way we can help these people. And there’s probably a way that’ll work because it always does. Sharon It always comes back and serves you too. So I will take some credit for wanting to figure it out. And I do think it was I do think this this framing of Main Street Warriors has some legs. It does. Right. But then it was so unrefined when I brought it to you, to you and David. And, you know, David doesn’t say, well, noodle on it, think about it. Let’s get a strategy meeting. He is such a he’s like, Let’s do it. I want to be title sponsor. Here’s what you need to do. You need a membership, you need these levels, blah, blah, blah.

Sharon Cline: [00:11:41] So smart. My brain does not keep up as fast as like he comes up with solutions and the reasons why within five seconds and I’m trying to write as opposed to type down what he’s saying. But it’s so fast. But he did have incredible advice for us.

Stone Payton: [00:11:55] He did. And he’s not only smart, but he’s such a person of action. And he’s so he’s so gifted at compelling others to take action because I’ve run into a lot of smart people that will just, you know, plan to death and never throw their hat over the fence If you if you want to hang out with David. Oh, man, it is such a rich experience, but you better be prepared to take some action.

Sharon Cline: [00:12:17] Yeah, he’s very inspiring, isn’t he? Oh, yeah. And his studio. His shop is so beautiful. Let’s call it a studio.

Stone Payton: [00:12:23] Let’s call that David’s. David’s? We were at David’s studio yesterday. Oh, isn’t it cool?

Sharon Cline: [00:12:27] It is beautiful. And it’s exciting to see. And I was actually kind of emotional when he had his ribbon cutting because I’m like, how many moments do people dream of having this? Like, I’m going to have a ribbon cutting ceremony? Yeah. And have all of these people come and support and be in my life like this. And so I just felt so I was so proud and like, happy for him. What a dream come true, you know? And it’s not often I get to witness that happening in real life.

Stone Payton: [00:12:51] And it’s fun to see that happening with David. Cannot think of a more deserving person for the momentum and success he’s he’s experiencing and will continue to experience. And it’s happening every day here in town. I mean, look at Ashley Greer over here. Is it the cutting board? I’m wearing your t.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:08] Shirt by the cutting board, charcuterie.

Stone Payton: [00:13:10] The board and box the board in box. Forgive me, Ashley. I’ll get it. She was kind enough to give me a shirt, but I couldn’t read it fast enough before I started talking. You know, she’s getting some momentum. She’s got a space over there. We’re going to be at her ribbon cutting. And of course, you know, my new news I got we got a golf cart.

Sharon Cline: [00:13:26] That’s right, the Business RadioX golf cart.

Stone Payton: [00:13:28] So I’m planning to drive the golf cart there in park. I should have my Business RadioX decal by then, but no, it’s happening every day. You have all of these great. These marvelous. And what’s nice is they people have found in this community and I think it’s the real secret to getting a successful business off the ground. It’s not just something they thought they wanted to do. They found a need, a desire, and they filled that need. And then they did it in concert with their values. And what what makes them happy. And the marriage of those two things is beautiful.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:03] It is. It is. And it’s exciting to see how many different businesses intermingle in this whole in this community. I think last night she board and box was was part of diesel David’s event last night and it was amazing.

Speaker1: [00:14:16] Oh man.

Stone Payton: [00:14:16] Did you see that layout.

Sharon Cline: [00:14:17] I did. There were pictures of it online.

Speaker1: [00:14:20] She was beautiful.

Stone Payton: [00:14:21] And then like you had, you had Lauren and Cody Bolton were there and they brought like these bags of pies. Right. And I just and by the way, my wife is like a super fan of Cody Bolton. And so when we got the we got the golf cart and it’s got a nice radio in it with a good sound system. And so we have one CD in the golf cart and it’s Cody Bolton and her favorite song on that CD. She loves all of them. She can tell you she can sing. Every word is well-worn bar. So we took a little video of her singing Well-worn bar, and we posted it on Facebook this morning. And but it’s fun to to know people like that and be able to let them. People like Cody. And Lauren and Ashley and David know how much they’re enriching our lives. Right? So anyway, so just being a part of the community really did. I’ll take credit for that. It motivated me to try to figure out a way to to help them. So that’s going well. We’ve got to keep our foot on the gas and make sure that we’re serving that community well. And and we’ll continue to try to find ways to serve them. And we’ll take a page out of David’s book. And I know you practice this as well. You know, if you want to find out how to help them, ask them, you know, what do you guys want? What would what would is something we can be doing. And so we’re going to try to be good at creating that feedback loop and return that that learning to the organization. So got that. My new shiny ball, though, I got to tell you, what’s your new shiny ball? Many of our listeners will know anyone who’s had a conversation with me and considered the idea of becoming a client.

Stone Payton: [00:15:54] Where we do that, where where we create that customized show and create a show concept that allows them to to shine the light on other people and genuinely serve the people in their ecosystem that they want to build those relationships with. Many of them know our minimum performance standard at Business RadioX has always been for two decades now is we’re a money machine. So our minimum performance standard is to double your money. Now our studio network is very autonomous, like Karen Nowicki out in Phenix. We don’t tell her what to do. We share best practices. There are very few rules. She taps into our brand equity. Everybody wins. But we don’t. We don’t dictate like you would in a formal franchise, a lot of the activities. And so for that reason I don’t make this commitment for the other studio partners but a Cherokee business radio, that is a guarantee we’re going to double your money. If you’re a traditional client, you come in, you put a dollar in in our money machine, you’re going to get that dollar in another one back. And what our target is really 5XAA 400% ROI. So if you put that dollar in, you’re going to get that dollar and then four more back. That’s what we’re targeting. But because our minimum performance standard is doubling your money, I made an appeal at Woodstock Business Club and I’ll make an appeal here on the air. I’m in search of twins because I want to do a promotional campaign built around twins.

Sharon Cline: [00:17:25] Oh, my goodness.

Speaker1: [00:17:26] That’s genius.

Stone Payton: [00:17:27] So I’ll take your help. David’s help. I’ve already mentioned to John Cloonan, my marketing buddy, and we sponsor his motorcycle racing pursuits to help me think through writing the copy and how to. But I just think it would be fun if we could figure out a way to to. And I want twins of all sizes and shapes and ages and genders and so, so smart. So if you know twins out there and you know we’re not going to go, you know, to like a formal booking agency and, you know, book the most beautiful European twins or whatever for a gazillion dollar people, I want real people. And but we’re going to do the we’re going to do the Twins thing, or at least you know what? So this idea is every bit as refined at this point while we’re on air today as the Main Street warrior.

Speaker1: [00:18:08] Idea was when I came to you and David.

Stone Payton: [00:18:10] Yeah, but I don’t know.

Speaker1: [00:18:12] It seems like a cool idea.

Sharon Cline: [00:18:13] It’s a great idea. And you know what I like, too? That you will find some people in Woodstock that are twins, you know? So it still continues to be part of the community.

Speaker1: [00:18:20] Which.

Stone Payton: [00:18:21] We most certainly will. And equally exciting is because we have built those relationships around town at Young Professionals of Woodstock, Woodstock Business Club, all just reformation under the Elm Tree. I got lots of networking spots, Jekyll.

Speaker1: [00:18:39] You know.

Stone Payton: [00:18:40] Stout all these places because they want to help. They you never know who knows who. And so while they may not be a twin, you know, they’ve got a cousin that knows somebody or they know somebody that’s got a set of twins. And so I really I have every I really believe that making this appeal, if I just in this community, if you’ll let folks around, you know what you need and want man, they will bend over backwards to try to help you get it. So I bet you I probably get flooded with twins and I hope I do. And we’ll anyone who wants to participate in any of that, we’ll we’ll make it happen. But that’s my new shiny ball.

Speaker1: [00:19:19] That I’m chasing.

Sharon Cline: [00:19:19] No, that I feel like I got, like, a little insider information today. That’s cool. It’s it’s very creative. But that’s what’s so cool about you is how creative you are. Like thinking outside of the box of what we what traditionally Business RadioX has done. So that’s what’s cool about Main Street Warriors too, is I was like, what are what are you doing? Like, you had to explain it to me. I’m like, This is genius. So and what I really love too is like, you are still promoting that notion of let’s highlight and give people a space to explain who they are, why they do what they do, what’s important to them. And that’s what I love about my show, is because we really do focus on who the person is behind the name. So it’s not just diesel. David It’s like if you are around David for a few minutes, you’re like, Oh my gosh, I believe in everything that.

Speaker1: [00:20:00] You’re doing. Oh, he’s infectious. Yeah. And you were so many other.

Stone Payton: [00:20:04] Yes, Right. So tell me. I’m going to. Okay, I’m getting. No, I want to know what are some of the things that you’ve enjoyed the most? And has anything surprised you or really stood out for you?

Speaker1: [00:20:17] I would say.

Sharon Cline: [00:20:17] The biggest surprise since doing the show and it’s been it’ll be a year in July. So. Oh wow, time goes by fast. It’s been it’s the most fun I have during the week is this show but also I think. When I’m interviewing someone that I’ve never met before. Complete stranger. You know, we we talk a little before the show and then when we do our interview, there is just an energy about it that I know that I am looking at someone’s heart and I just need you to have the words to to show me your heart or explain your heart. And once we do that, I swear we are friends. We are all friends, right? And I mean, I really believe that I could contact anyone who’s been on the show and say I’m having trouble, and like, someone would come and help me. I really do, because there isn’t. It’s like an energy exchange of let me highlight who you are. And then they tell their story. Who doesn’t love to explain their story and why they do what they do and everybody wins. It’s like such a joy. So I think that joy really is something that you can feel, and I love that I could go to any of these little businesses and and feel like I’m speaking to a friend who I, you know, didn’t know last week. It’s crazy. Isn’t that great? A very interesting kind of dynamic.

Stone Payton: [00:21:32] Well, and I do believe with all of my heart, if next week you decided to quit doing this, you stopped doing the voiceover work and you sold office furniture. Right. You’re in a whole new career, right? You’re selling, right. All right. I believe you could reach out to every one of those people you’re describing a I think they would take your call. B, I think that they would entertain a conversation with an open mind about the products and services that you’re offering. I really believe if they were at all in the market for some office furniture or might be in the near future, I think anything else being close to equal, I think you would get the nod. I think you would get the business over the other person. I really believe if their brother in law was in the office furniture business. Right. And let’s say it’s a guy and and and his brother in law is in the office furniture business and his wife is is like, no, you have to buy it from my brother Rusty. And so he’s going to buy the office furniture from the brother in law. He has to, for the sake of his own peace of mind in his life. I still believe even then that person is still going to try to do everything in their power to help you. They’re going to let other people know you’re in the business. They’re going to try to introduce you to other people. Don’t you think that? And I think that’s why the ROI is comes from this.

Sharon Cline: [00:22:51] That’s true. And I think part of it is the the intention is for for good, like truly good. And I do think that if there were any ulterior motives by now, it would have all fallen apart and would not work at all. But knowing that my intention truly is to highlight someone’s like heart and what they do and what they think about what they’ve learned, especially talking about fear and how that can limit your life so much. And everyone knows what that feeling is like. How do you manage around that? You know, because I think about it all the time. So it’s really wonderful for someone to say, Here’s what I’ve learned. So I get to love on someone, someone gets to share their story, and then anyone else who listens could maybe get an inspiration or or a lesson that they never really even thought that they would get on a radio. And I do think it works like it just works. It’s really it’s really been very special to me. It’s like such a joy.

Speaker1: [00:23:44] Oh, I’m delighted to hear.

Stone Payton: [00:23:45] Okay, So the show is called Fearless Formula. What did fear ever come into play at all when you started doing this? Yes.

Sharon Cline: [00:23:52] Okay. Let me walk in the building shaking and everything. Yeah, I would say yes, because I never I don’t really have a specific plan in talking to someone. I have a very curious mind and it’s annoying sometimes. So I really appreciate that people let me ask questions because the reason I’m asking is not so that I can find something to get out of you, but it’s really just to understand how do you move through the world? What is your world experience like with a business slant? And so I’m not the biggest business person, but I do love that there are more things about us that are like than are different. No matter what industry, no matter what aspect of your life you’re talking about, whether it’s homeownership or or driving to work can be scary. Like everyone knows that feeling of fear. So just being able to say, Well, what did you do during the pandemic? That’s like one of the big things I ask because a lot of businesses didn’t survive and some did. And how did you do it and what would you do differently if you could start over? I mean, these are lessons that I think about all the time for anybody. And it’s so nice to know that I pass by people every day. But coming down into Woodstock and seeing someone’s face that I recognize from an interview that I did there, not a stranger to me, they’re a human who’s had their own life experience. You can appreciate where they’ve come from and just having that appreciation of who someone is and why they do what they do makes me want to solicit their business. It makes me want to say, Yeah, I really could use some help with my air conditioning, you know, or whoever plumber, you know, has been here. So I really appreciate the relationship and it’s so important to talk about it from a people aspect, not just. Business and money in numbers, but people are behind it. And I just love highlighting that. That’s how that’s how my brain works.

Speaker1: [00:25:37] So how did.

Stone Payton: [00:25:37] You get past the initial fear? Did you just tough it out? Did you block it out or.

Sharon Cline: [00:25:42] Good question. Oh, man. How did I think I just felt it but did it anyway. And that is really pretty much how I live my life. You feel the fear and do it anyway, because really, once you are sitting with someone, we’re just having a conversation. It is not a major, you know, dissertation about how you got from point A to point B and explain it all and Excel spreadsheet. Nothing. It’s just tell me who you are. Explain to me who you are. And I think just coming at it from an energy of I really just want to understand who you are and what makes you tick when you have that energy. It’s really almost like we could have we could be sitting anywhere having a beer together.

Speaker1: [00:26:22] You know, we probably should have done that.

Stone Payton: [00:26:23] We probably should have taken a remote kit and headed over to the Reformation or to Stout or Jekyll and just sat down.

Speaker1: [00:26:28] Exactly. But it feels does It does. You know what?

Stone Payton: [00:26:31] I think it feels that way. And Lee and I, when we were getting this thing off the ground and trying to replicate it because we started with just the one studio down in Sandy Springs, the the tone that we wanted to create. And I think we’ve we’ve pulled it off in most cases is, is like you’re sitting there and you’re sitting at Jekyll and you’re having that conversation over a beer and a table next to you just can’t help but but lean over and listen in a little bit, don’t you think we create that tone?

Sharon Cline: [00:26:59] I really do. And I think that’s it’s true because the things that we’re talking about aren’t necessarily, you know, all the ROI that you have to deal with and all of the ins and outs and like the boring kind of not really fun parts of business, but it’s.

Speaker1: [00:27:12] Fun when the check clears. Well.

Sharon Cline: [00:27:15] That’s the whole point of it all, I guess. But but still talking about kind of what it is that sort of drives you. I mean, when they’re doing the charitable Charitable Pursuits show and I’ve been lucky enough to sit on those because I’ve produced a couple just watching, not participating. So much, but just watching the different slant of that show compared to mine, which is all like, Tell me about how you manage your feelings. Charitable Pursuits talks about why. Why do you why do you give What is it that drives you? How can other people be inspired to give? And that is so inspiring. And if you and I were sitting at a place like Jekyll and having a beer and we’re talking about that specific subject, somebody will overhear it and be able to identify with it. So you’re right, it’s not just, you know, business business. It’s more like how can how can I contribute to my community? How can I build relationships? How can I help someone else? Because we’re all helping each other. And I think that’s why we’re here is to help each other.

Speaker1: [00:28:13] I guess. Amen. Well said.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:16] It’s funny. I didn’t know what we were going to talk about today. That’s the best part about this show.

Speaker1: [00:28:19] I didn’t really I.

Stone Payton: [00:28:20] Mean, I knew I wanted to say a couple of things about Main Street Warriors and mentioned. But yeah, I mean, you see me, I don’t have a notepad or anything.

Sharon Cline: [00:28:26] Either except my phone because I get nervous and I’m like, How do I introduce Stone, who I’ve known for like a year and a half now. But still, I think I think you’re right that it is really it’s it’s not something to feel like you’re out of your comfort zone. If you’ve ever had a conversation with someone anywhere, it is exactly the same energy right in here. And people do get nervous before they come on if they’ve never done a show before or, you know, spoken.

Speaker1: [00:28:49] But don’t you find.

Stone Payton: [00:28:50] That more often than not, the microphone kind of melts away pretty.

Speaker1: [00:28:53] Quickly?

Sharon Cline: [00:28:53] It does. It does, because you really do It is an energy of of just tell me your story and you don’t even think about I don’t even think about what I’m saying, which probably shows sometimes. But I’m just saying, when someone comes in here who’s never had that experience before, it isn’t something that they they always leave. Happy is what I’m trying to say. They’re not concerned. Oh, did that sound good? Did that not sound good? It’s your story. It’s we’re just highlighting who you are and what you love and what you wish you did different or what you learned or how you give back or your thoughts. You know, who doesn’t want a moment to kind of say, this is what I was thinking about? Like you today, you just shared your thoughts. Yes.

Speaker1: [00:29:32] That’s just what’s on my mind right now.

Stone Payton: [00:29:33] That in a golf cart, because, you know, I gambled and came down on the golf cart and there’s this little stretch between where you’re allowed to drive the golf cart and where the office is. And it’s like 75 yards and there’s a sidewalk. And I gambled today and I don’t know, we need to get the chief of police in here, build a relationship and say, look, can you cut us some slack on this one little stretch?

Sharon Cline: [00:29:52] But if you ever see this Business RadioX golf, the only.

Speaker1: [00:29:56] One it’s the only one I don’t want to be.

Stone Payton: [00:29:57] Unsafe. But I mean, I feel like if I can come up, I don’t know, I probably shouldn’t do all that on the air. But anyway, I’m just talking about what’s on my mind. I have a technical question for you, and there’s no right answer. But but it occurs to me when you put the headphones on, don’t you feel like there’s like we’re in a little bit of a bubble? Like, I wonder if that doesn’t even lend itself further to to.

Speaker1: [00:30:18] It’s a good question about that.

Stone Payton: [00:30:19] It’s almost like we’re in our own little world, right? I don’t know if that’s true or not, but it feels that way to me.

Speaker1: [00:30:24] It does.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:24] I think that’s lends well for defenses. Is being kind of disarmed, you know, kind of an outside world.

Stone Payton: [00:30:33] They’re out there, right?

Speaker1: [00:30:34] They are.

Sharon Cline: [00:30:34] Sometimes you hear the rain and you’re like, what is it raining? I’m in this little booth. It’s so nice because it really does feel like you don’t have you’re not distracted. You don’t have a thousand different things that you need to be doing, checking your phone or anything like that. We get to focus on each other and that’s the whole reason to be in here. And I don’t do that very often in other areas. So if I went to go see anyone like I had bananas and beehives on a couple of weeks ago, if I went to go speak to her in her shop, well, she’d be busy, you know, And it’s very difficult, which I get, of course. But it’s so nice to have a dedicated time to really get to know someone in a very intimate way that, you know, is so positive in the end. And I remember you told me this in the beginning. No one has ever left unhappy. And it’s the truth. We sit here after the show, 30 minutes, 40 minutes, we still talk. And I’ll be like, oh, man, I should have asked you that, you know, on the show. But it’s still just fun because I’m still truly invested in who someone is and what they what they do and what makes them tick. And it’s hard sometimes to to think of all the great questions. I mean, I’m always off the.

Speaker1: [00:31:36] Cuff and.

Stone Payton: [00:31:37] You can always have them back. Right? Exactly. So that’s fun. And did you see my studio upgrade?

Speaker1: [00:31:42] Yes, I did.

Stone Payton: [00:31:43] So we’ve had these really cool core board signs, logos for people, underwriters of shows. But with the Main Street Warriors program, the ones that do the Special Forces or the annual, you know, we’ve created these foam core things. But the way we did it, you had to they were like semi-permanent, right? Like you could put them on if you took them off. You’d better be careful. Yeah. So I finally figured out how to do it with magnets so we can move them around. So, like, if somebody was was specifically sponsoring today’s episode, we can move it where I’ve got the Main Street Warriors theme, we can put their deal. Isn’t that cool? We can move the logos.

Speaker1: [00:32:17] Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:18] And it’s a great opportunity for different businesses. So that wasn’t David’s idea.

Speaker1: [00:32:21] I thought, That’s on.

Stone Payton: [00:32:23] Me. David doesn’t win everything.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:28] I can’t. Sorry. I wasn’t expecting you to say that. Good for you.

Speaker1: [00:32:32] That’s right.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:33] Good for you. That was genius.

Speaker1: [00:32:34] To you twice.

Sharon Cline: [00:32:35] You’ve been called a genius today. No, that’s awesome. But I love that, too, because it does give people a little bit of extra highlight which who doesn’t love that? So I just think the premise and the execution of it is just so beautiful and it is not too complicated for me to figure out how to do on my own as a producer. So and doing the show so I know someone else could come in here and learn it too, if they wanted to. It’s not it’s nothing that, you know, takes a genius.

Speaker1: [00:33:01] And our clients don’t.

Stone Payton: [00:33:02] Even have to run the board. But you’re right. I mean, I mean, I’m not a radio guy. I’m a sales and marketing guy. Right.

Speaker1: [00:33:06] But you do the board.

Stone Payton: [00:33:08] I do. But it’s like the Playskool version of a board. It’s high end. You know, in the old days when we got started, you know, it looked like a rock band. The machine you had to have there and you had to have 2 or 3 different boxes that you plugged the headphones into and all that jazz. And now, because podcasting in general has become so prolific, you know, there’s this whole cottage industry around the equipment and the software and, you know, and that with 20 years of workflow knowledge, it’s gotten easier and easier and and easier for.

Speaker1: [00:33:34] Do you ever.

Sharon Cline: [00:33:35] Want to add cameras.

Speaker1: [00:33:35] In here?

Stone Payton: [00:33:36] Yes, there is a trade off with using video in this environment versus just audio. And so every situation is different because again, if you go back to the core purpose for most of our clients, the the priority is building the relationship. That’s right. And if you don’t if you if you do video, and particularly if you don’t handle the video aspect of it well, it can actually add friction to the whole dynamic. Right. We’ve seen this in the conference and trade show work that we’ve done. I’ve seen it in studio. Right now you and I are ultra relaxed, even a brand new client who’s never been on the mic by this time in the conversation, they’re so happy. They’re so relaxed. Yeah. But I got to tell you, you know, for so many people and a lot of people were interviewing are not they’re not media trained, they’re not professional actors or voiceover.

Speaker1: [00:34:27] People or anything like.

Sharon Cline: [00:34:28] That. They’re really in the trenches of their business.

Stone Payton: [00:34:30] Exactly. And so you throw a camera in their face, you know, and start videoing. They start to worry about the mustard on their shirt and their hair. And are they and they don’t feel like they can refer to their notes. Right. So, so so it’s it’s not that one is good and one is bad, but you’ve got to you need to take that into account. And all that said. And so every situation is different and our priority in serving the client is what is going to help you get to your desired outcome. If adding video is going to get you 100 more likes on social media, but it’s going to add too much friction to the to the environment. Our council is going to be know now if you check clears will video, but I’m just saying that’s going to be our our our council. However, one of the things that I’m working on and we have in the past even I have done where we video the sound check and we video do like the Facebook Live thing or do restream and then we tell them to listen to it and to the whole show. Head on over to High Velocity Radio. Turkey Business RadioX dot com or whatever so that we’ve had great experience with and that was cool. We’re going to have video capability because there are situations where it doesn’t add friction and everybody is cool with it. In fact, they even would appreciate having some video captured. And there are some distinct advantages in video as a medium and some distinct advantages in audio as a medium, which I’m happy to describe in a moment, if you like. But what we are going to do is we’re going to continue to explore the most inobtrusive is that a word? Whatever is not going to get in the way.

Stone Payton: [00:36:05] Way to have a 1 or 2 camera angles in here where we can capture on video if that’s what the client wants and we’re going to work through how to so that the guest are very comfortable with that. And it’s just kind of in the background out of the way so that we can capture that for them. And, you know, we’ll add a premium to that fee structure because that’s a whole different ballgame that, you know, cutting the video, adding all that jazz. Exactly. But to me, it’s a both and let’s make it available. Let’s make it easy, because I have had, you know, after everything I just said, I’ve had people come in here and say, well, is it okay if I video myself? Absolutely. Or they’ll say, Is it all right if I video this whole thing? At which point I’ll often say, Well, let’s check with our other guests, you know, because I’m again, my priority is relationship and environment. So another thing we are working on is to to have an unobtrusive way to capture video when it is warranted. I will share with you in general, video is such a marvelous vehicle for storytelling, but for some of the reasons I just described earlier and there are some others, this platform is infinitely more powerful for story gathering. It’s much easier if you’re working with people who are not professional actors. Story get this This platform is so much easier to gather story is with this. There’s not the lighting, there’s not the setup, there’s not that friction I was telling you about that can occur, you know, that kind of thing.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:37] People ask me that when they come in, Is this going to be on video?

Speaker1: [00:37:40] And I and some are very nervous about it.

Sharon Cline: [00:37:42] They don’t like it, some do not like.

Speaker1: [00:37:43] And you get the whole.

Stone Payton: [00:37:44] Continuum, right? And I’m like, oh my gosh, is it okay if I video it or do you have a way to video? So, so it is an infinitely more powerful tool for story gathering in most circumstances. And if you go back to desired outcome, if your desired outcome is to double, triple, quadruple your money, if it’s to build relationships, real relationships real fast and get to the point where the people who are important to you are writing you checks or teeing you up with people who are writing you checks. If you’re focus is ROI and building relationships, story gathering is your path. And I’m not saying you can’t incorporate video in the story gathering, but the default slam dunk automatic always works, never doesn’t work. Way to gather stories. I mean, this is a content factory, right? It is a gathering stories and really building that relationship. Audio over video hands down.

Sharon Cline: [00:38:40] That’s so interesting because people focus so much on using social media with these videos. Like I had a woman on here who does the snuggly blanket company and she when she came in, videoed that she was doing this, videoed some of the logos. She said, I’m always looking for content because I have to fight to get myself out there like three times a day. Oh, it’s a.

Speaker1: [00:39:00] Hungry beast, those social media.

Sharon Cline: [00:39:02] Platforms. It is. And I think it would be even for myself, I need to kind of embrace that. I haven’t yet. So but it’s not something that I think about is perfect for everybody or their business. But I do see that social media uses video so much.

Speaker1: [00:39:15] That it really does.

Stone Payton: [00:39:16] And you can the other thing, once you have audio, you can still go you can you can lay video on top of it, B-roll, you can do really compelling images, Just.

Speaker1: [00:39:26] Do your logo.

Stone Payton: [00:39:27] Right. So all of those things and again, just like the technical equipment, those tools are getting easier and easier and less and less expensive to use. So, so, you know, that’s our take on audio and video. So we want to do what the client wants to do, but we feel an obligation to share our counsel with them about how to go about it. Now that being said, you know, I mentioned earlier how how prolific podcasting has become. Well, I’ll give you a sobering stat. Well over 80% of podcasts fail, meaning they produce three or fewer episodes and they don’t get the outcomes that they thought they were going to get. So they stop. Okay, that’s podcasts in general. Over 96% of business podcasts fail. For those that mean they they produce three or fewer episodes, they don’t get what they thought they were going to get. And again, it’s because they’re doing more storytelling is a big piece of it. And the other thing is they’re they’re following the old traditional terrestrial model of getting trying to to to get the message out to a gazillion people. Hope that and hope and pray that that some and they know it’s going to be a small group and often it’s not any group at all hoping that some of them will then hear it and then actually listen to it and then and then download their white paper and then and then sign up for their newsletter and then take a call and then book the demo and then have another conversation and then accept a proposal.

Stone Payton: [00:41:01] And so they’re trying to work this funnel from the very top. And again, it can be done. It has been done, but obviously it’s done, you know, three and a half or less percent of the time. And so that model, even if you even if you are doing all the things that I’m telling you about and canceling, if you take this extremely powerful platform and you do that, the chances, the likelihood of you being successful and getting a return on that investment and reaching your desired outcomes is, I mean, almost zero. I mean, it’s three and a half to, you know, less than 3.5%. However, as you’ve observed, and it’s probably true about a lot of tools, this is just the one I know if you use this platform to serve first, serve early, serve, often genuinely invest in the other person in the room, give them a chance to share their story, promote their work, tell you what’s on their heart, and aim it that way. I mean. I mean, it just always works.

Sharon Cline: [00:42:03] It’s crazy. It’s true because I have gotten voice over work and through through the relationships that I’ve made here. And it’s it’s a natural fit, too, because who they get to experience in my asking questions is really me. You know, I really don’t have a whole lot else to pull from. Like, I do have some notes sometimes, but really who you get to see is like who I genuinely am. And so it’s I’m not a mystery. I’m not like, you know, potentially a bad experience, I would hope. But I like that they already have a relationship with me. It’s just set, you know. And I think, like you were saying, they get to share their heart. You get to share who you are, and everyone really leaves happy. It’s it’s great. It works. And I love that I don’t have to worry about being on an island by myself trying to make my own little podcast work. I’m not I don’t know a whole lot about it. And I know you can learn and people do and they make it work. But for myself, the likelihood of of being consistent and sticking with it and not having the support that I have here, I don’t think it would have I don’t think it would do. I don’t I’m sorry. I just.

Speaker1: [00:43:05] You know, so I got to ask.

Stone Payton: [00:43:06] Once you establish that trust and credibility and you’ve got that that thing that just happens in here, do you ever, like, slip into any of your characters that you do for voice.

Speaker1: [00:43:14] Over? Like, because.

Stone Payton: [00:43:15] You’ve got all these accents, you’ve got these characters, you’ve got I mean, you have an incredible range of talent. Once, once you get the comfort level going, do you like slip into some of that stuff?

Sharon Cline: [00:43:23] Sometimes I do because I especially because I had a gentleman in here, Derrick Jensen, who is with Precision. It’s power washing. He’s from Boston. And I was just like, oh, no, I, you know, grew up in Massachusetts a good bit. So I totally was like, let’s get into let’s start saying wicked. Let’s just it was actually very fun because in speaking with him, it reminded me of my family members back home and it felt like I was speaking to my uncle or my brother or something. So it’s kind of crazy how you can identify and find commonalities between all kinds of different people because like I said, we are more alike than we are different. So it’s really fun to to highlight that part of it.

Stone Payton: [00:43:57] And the platform, of course, does facilitate all that. But the what we do and why we do it also attracts like minded people that have that same value system. I’ll give you a specific example. A gentleman by the name of Chris Creekmur Atlanta Drone Cleaning. He does the and he’s got like this, you know, big drone thingy that goes up and washes the buildings and the roofs and all that. Let me tell you what he organized. Now, this is a guy that is in this I’m I might use the wrong term power washing roof, washing, building, washing. He invited three other people in that business to come in here and talk about their business. They were all about trying to help each other, collaborating, working together on projects, referring. And and what I’m getting at is clearly Chris Creekmur is of that same ilk, right? He’s cut from the same cloth. His value system is so wholly consistent with with ours and what we’re trying to accomplish. So when you when you approach something like that and not only espouse the value, but you but you visibly live into it, oh, my goodness, you attract other people that are exactly the same way. And I mean, what a gift that is.

Sharon Cline: [00:45:07] That is because they could be competitors, right? They could.

Speaker1: [00:45:10] That’s how most people in most markets. Exactly how they would attack. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:45:13] No, this is my job, my business, my market, my Woodstock, my whatever, my town. But there is room for everyone. And I just love the notion of that, which is what we talk about here on Fearless Formerly, too. We talk about how there is room for everyone in this business to have a space to succeed, to live their dream. It’s not like it’s abundant. You know, there’s there’s always going to be people who need a service. So I think one of the best parts about it is that energy of collaboration. And like I was speaking to, I want to say it was bananas and beehives who was here a couple of weeks ago. She was saying that there was a time during the pandemic where they one of the other businesses that’s got a sort of similar theme as hers across the street from her ran out of supplies and she provided the supplies. That is fantastic because they are all helping each other. Yeah, because we’re all just trying to and there’s plenty of opportunity.

Stone Payton: [00:46:07] And I’ll tell people that anyone who’s listening right now, if you think you want to get into the podcasting world, sit down with me. Let’s go have a beer. Look, I’d love to have you as a client, if that would make sense. And it would serve you. But if not, maybe you should be doing your own thing out of your house or. Or in your own space or whatever. I will open up my playbook. I will share with you because we’ve probably made every mistake you could possibly make over the last 18, 20 years. And we really have kind of refined the workflow. We’ve learned what what equipment to, to, to purchase and use. We’ve learned how to convert this into actually making money, which again, 96% have not. I mean, that’s a that’s a very sobering statistic. But man, can I could probably shrink the timeline and remove a lot of the friction for you, save you a lot of heartache. And I’m happy to do it that in no way if if helping you do podcasting the way you want to do it is somehow going to threaten my business. I got other problems. There’s something I’m not doing right. You know what I mean?

Speaker1: [00:47:11] I do. Yeah.

Sharon Cline: [00:47:12] I do. What I love, too, is that you’re so open to being able to share and you do genuinely want people to succeed walking down the street. I’ve always told you this. Walking down the street with you in Woodstock is like walking with the mayor. Like, you know, everyone. Everyone knows you and they all are just like, so happy. Oh, stone. And it’s like you’ve only been here, what, two years? Goodness. Like, I’ve lived in this town quite a while now. So it’s like, Oh, I got to take some notes from you, Stone But it’s because you do try to build relationships and help people genuinely want to help people and see them succeed.

Stone Payton: [00:47:41] I’m just selfish. I just want to be loved.

Speaker1: [00:47:45] I’m just trying to get somebody to buy me a beer. You know, if you’re.

Stone Payton: [00:47:48] Nice enough to people, they will buy you a beer, right?

Sharon Cline: [00:47:52] No, but like watching people succeed and that joy that you get in watching them succeed does come right back to you. So every time.

Speaker1: [00:48:00] Tenfold and.

Stone Payton: [00:48:01] Probably for most, at least in my case, for me, not in a way you would think like it’s almost never like a straight line. It seems like. But somehow, someway, it circles back in the weirdest way. You know, it’s amazing.

Sharon Cline: [00:48:13] Well, how could people get in touch with you? What is the best way?

Stone Payton: [00:48:16] So my direct line is (770) 335-2050. And you can text there as well. I’m a lot better about reading the text and responding to that than I am about picking up the phone. I’m off and on another call. I don’t often have my ringer up, but if I have my ringer up and I see it, I will grab it and say hello. But you can text that my email is stone s t o n e at Business RadioX dot com. If you want to learn what we’re more about, what we’re up to network wide, go to Business RadioX dot com. We got a lot of cool stuff up there. If you’re one of those aspiring podcasters, go check out Pro Tips. There’s a ton of stuff there that that can help you. All right. So that’s my that’s my phone text and email address if you’re interested at all in learning more about what we got cooking here with the Main Street Warriors program, go to Main Street warriors.org and reaching out to me in any of those ways, I’m quite sincere when I say, yeah, I’m happy to set up a zoom call. I’m happy to set know just a phone call, trade emails or whatever. But honestly, I just as soon head down and sit under the elm tree at Reformation, have a beer and talk it over. So and just.

Sharon Cline: [00:49:29] Get to know people too. Absolutely no obligation.

Stone Payton: [00:49:31] And if the weather’s good, I’ll show up in the golf cart and we’ll take a ride.

Sharon Cline: [00:49:36] And if anyone owns any twins out there.

Speaker1: [00:49:38] Yes, Yes.

Stone Payton: [00:49:39] Seriously, I am in search of twins.

Sharon Cline: [00:49:42] I really thank you so much for coming in here and chit chatting today because we haven’t had a time to really focus on on this since we started chit chatting at all last year. So thank you for your time and for being so generous with your spirit and energy and really having a joy to watch other people succeed that I know I feel when I get to be with you.

Speaker1: [00:50:00] So thank you.

Stone Payton: [00:50:01] Absolutely.

Speaker1: [00:50:02] My pleasure.

Sharon Cline: [00:50:03] All right, everyone, thanks for listening to Fearless Formula on Business RadioX. And again. This is Sharon Cline reminding you that with knowledge and understanding, we can all have our own fearless formula. Have a great day.