Scaling Up Success Podcast

From Invisible to Influential: How to Leverage Speaking and Community Building with Shelby Jo Long

• Ryan Van Ornum • Season 1 • Episode 30

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How Do You Stand Out in Today’s Overcrowded Marketplace?

In this compelling conversation, communication strategist Shelby Jo Long sits down with Ryan Van Ornam to explore what it truly takes to build a visible, impactful personal brand in today’s digital age. From strategic positioning to meaningful relationship-building, Shelby shares the tools every professional needs to rise above the noise.

“Your net worth is directly proportional to your network,” Shelby emphasizes, underscoring the power of aligned partnerships in driving business growth. As the digital landscape continues to evolve, she reminds us that online branding isn’t just about being seen, it’s about staying agile and connected in a constantly shifting market.

The discussion delves into Shelby’s advocacy work with women in the trades industry, where female participation remains at a low 14%. With an aging workforce and fewer apprentices entering the field, she sees a dual reality: a pressing challenge and a rich opportunity. Through her upcoming conference, Shelby is creating platforms where stories are shared, talents are nurtured, and future leaders are born.

Speaking professionals will especially benefit from her take on the changing nature of the industry. Success now hinges not on cold outreach but on genuine, behind-the-scenes relationship building. Shelby puts it simply: “It’s not about you, it’s about the problem you solve.” That mindset shift is essential for anyone aiming to secure paid speaking engagements in today’s marketplace.

Perhaps most enlightening is her insight into AI’s growing role in business. “Human connection is a company’s competitive edge,” Shelby says. As automation grows, it’s those real, human relationships that will set brands apart. For entrepreneurs and speakers alike, the future belongs to those who foster community, not just content.

Ready to amplify your voice and refine your brand?

Connect with Shelby Jo Long on LinkedIn or explore her work at shelbyjolong.com, including the Cadence Speaker Academy and her keynote services.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shelbyjolong 
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/longsj 

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Speaker 1:

What's up everybody? This, ryan Van Ornam. I am back with another episode of scaling up success, powered by synergist. Synergist is your go-to uh company to help you with scaling scaling your operations, building it up from the ground up, whether it's social uh solopreneurs all the way up to like 50 million dollar companies. Senegist can help. Today on the podcast, we have Shelby Jo Long, one of my good friends. Shelby, how the heck are you today?

Speaker 2:

Oh, I'm doing great. I'm coming to Denver tomorrow, so I'm excited.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I love it, can't wait to see you. It's going to be great, it's going to be fun, yeah, awesome. So you got all types of stuff happening. I mean just like tell me what you got going on right now.

Speaker 2:

I do. I have a lot of things going on, probably the most. I mean, I'm a communication strategist. That's the basic how you'd put an umbrella over everything, and which goes everything from brand strategy for individual companies, of how to become more visible in the marketplace, to speakers that want to earn more money and be on stages, and it has everything to do with communication and how you position yourself and really who you partner with. So that's kind of the overall piece of what I do. So I work in the speaking space, I work in business consulting, and so I work in the speaking space, I work in the in business consulting, and then I work. I work with authors too. So it's it's just a mix of things that I work with.

Speaker 1:

I love that and and it's kind of like when people are building their own brands, when, when you combine the authorship with the speaking engagements with like social media engagement and then a sound marketing plan, it's amazing what can happen to a business grow organically. Would you agree?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely, and that's I mean. It's about being visible, but it's also being visible in the right places, you know. It's being visible around people that are your ideal clients or that are in networks of people that can refer you. I think that's such an important part of business is recognizing that you can do it alone, but it's pretty lonely, but it's more fun to be around people and create these partnerships, and so you can solve your problems so much faster and you're able to grow that much faster so I mean the, the.

Speaker 1:

The quote that comes to my head is like uh, your net worth is directly in proportion to your network absolutely, absolutely, and the more but and but.

Speaker 2:

Then you think, as a solo business owner, as a, as a business owner that has employees, you're not going to be. Unless you're visible and unless you're part of the conversation, you're not going to make those next steps. So it's taking steps and doing the networking and meeting the people and having the conversations. It's also important when you're, when you're growing your company.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. How do you, how do you see, uh, like the way that business has changed in like the last 10 years with the growth of like social media and stuff like that?

Speaker 2:

Sure, I think I mean social media is the, is the you know necessary evil.

Speaker 2:

You know that you if, if you're not online, that's the first place that especially this generation of customers and clients that we have, the millennials and the gen z, like that's all they know that's the place that they'll go to find you.

Speaker 2:

So if you don't have a digital, digital footprint, that it's really hard. You're in obscurity, and so that I think is is one thing that, even if you don't like Facebook and LinkedIn and all that, you you got to be on it and you got to have a presence, and that doesn't mean that you need to spend thousands and thousands of dollars on digital marketing. It just means that you could be there and be aware. So I think that's a piece of it too. It's to be interesting to see how AI changes things. You know we've already seen that make a pretty big impact in the marketplace, but I think it's just going to continue to change. But that's something to remember too is that being in social media and being in the digital forefront helps you be able to pivot and adapt, so you can adapt your own business and your own offer to the new marketplace.

Speaker 1:

So definitely, and one of the things that that I know I've talked to you about and I and I love what you got going on with this especially, um, you, you, you work in a like a national type of connection with this is like, uh, you, you work really closely with women business owners that are specifically in the trades and being able to, like, help them grow their brands specifically out. You know, through speaking engagements, through other modalities Um, what, what type of advice do you give people? Uh, cause that that's that's a very uh interesting niche to be able to help people with, and do you see that, uh, that people are are really resonating with with that and and making better inroads because of it?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, the the women in the trades conference is something that's kind of new. I'm not in the trades but I grew up in the trades. I grew up on a farm. I was a wildland firefighter when I was younger, in my younger and in shape days, dominated environments. In the world of college debate I was always more male dominated environment and you know, even in C-suite leadership in businesses that it's it's typically more male dominated.

Speaker 2:

It doesn't mean that there's not women, but there's, there's a dominant voice and so there's that synergy there and particularly in the trades, and I I have these great female friends that are in the trades and that are leaders in the trades and I have these great female friends that are in the trades and that are leaders in the trades and I just think there's an opportunity to have a discussion about it.

Speaker 2:

So, as I started to create that network and for the conference it's going to be in the fall, I think there's people are seeking and like yearning for an opportunity to connect and and talk about that shared experience. And it's not even necessarily solving the problems, but it's. It's sharing that experience and being able to tell your story and being able to own it, and I think that's a big piece of it too. And whether it's because you've experienced whatever you've experienced in the workplace, you know, but I think there's a. It's because you've experienced whatever you've experienced in the workplace, you know, but I think there's a it's. It's becoming a really neat community that we're pulling together to have this conversation and to have the tough conversation about the challenges. And it's not, it is for women in the trades, but that, you know, it's males too, so that to have a conversation about how to create that environment that is, it's not even inclusive, isn't?

Speaker 1:

even the right word. It's just, it's just creative, so it's synergistic for everybody. So, and what are you seeing on in in the like, now that you've started building into that a little bit? Are you seeing, like the um, the trade side, that the, the leadership demographic is aging? Do you do you see that as that there is either an opportunity for for a younger generation to be able to step into that gap, or is it that some of the older generation is having to, like, uh, shed their skin a little bit per se, like a snake sheds the skin to be able to adapt to a changing environment?

Speaker 2:

I think it's a little bit of both, and one of the reasons to do this conference is that right now in the trades, about 14% of people that work in the trades are women, which is not a high number, and I'm in Montana and in Montana it's about 10%, which is surprising to me, but it's still.

Speaker 2:

You know, with the amount of small plumbing companies and carpenters and all of those that are aging out of the business because it's taxing and they're aging out of the business. There's not apprentices to take things over and I think there's going to be a real. I think it'll be really interesting in the next couple of years, next 10 years, to see what happens with that, because the people that are working with their hands I don't know if kids are being encouraged to go into that, so that's kind of. One of the purposes of the conference, too, is to have a conversation about employment and how do we attract young people, or how do we attract people that are in a midlife, mid-career transition to be able to get into the trades and build the trades, because those are necessary. Jobs Like construction and trades are not going away, but but it's, how do we, how do we attract people into that space, that that don't know about the opportunities, and so that's why we wanted to have the conference too.

Speaker 1:

I love that. And then you know, I know I'm I'm kind of popping back and forth, but I love hearing how this stuff kind of resonates. With all of these things, it's like with the speaking engagements that you really help people. You know, I find it that it's so interesting the way that industry has changed, Like the speaking industry has even changed over the last 10 years. You know, what things have you seen that have been? You know, kind of in regards to just like the keynote speakers or even just, you know, getting on a panel or something like that, has the process changed a lot?

Speaker 2:

I think it's become and maybe this is just because I'm in the zeitgeist of it right, like I'm a professional speaker and then I work with professional speakers to get them placed, but it's so. That's the conversation I hear. But, you know, getting people want to get paid to speak Great but those opportunities are few and far between, and I do also feel that there are those opportunities out there. We just have to brand ourselves and put ourselves as the. It's not about us, it's about what they need. And so to think more about, I mean, this is branding. What you got to brand, you know, when you brand yourself, yes, it's you, but then what problem do you solve? What, what, what thing are you talking about that companies want to hear.

Speaker 2:

So those corporate things are harder and I do feel that it, you know, with speakers bureaus we're a newer speaker bureau and we work with with uh, we don't, we don't, we're not agents, if you will, but we do work with businesses to be able to bring people in and and the conversations are getting harder and I think too, with, like, the hesitancy to spend money on training, and I think that, because that I feel and you can confirm this too I feel that that kind of exists too is that people are afraid to put much money into marketing and training because they don't know how much money they're going to have at the end of the year and costs are going up with tariffs and whatever. There's so much unknown. That's making it more challenging. But I do feel like those high paid speaking gigs. I feel that that's a pretty closed circle. We're learning about that and trying to figure out how to infiltrate that so I find a lot of it.

Speaker 1:

Uh, we, you know we, we help with outreach on some of the stuff in in in my company, but, like, what we found is, uh, the way to engage people has definitely started to change. It is, uh, it went away from like, just you, you really cannot get a hold of people on the phone anymore. Um, you have to engage with back channels more than anything else that I've seen, and that's that's where creating an uh, an engaged connection, you know, via like back channels, is definitely where we've seen growth in that regard. You know, via like back channels is definitely where we seen growth in that regard.

Speaker 1:

You know, as gone are the days of, I think, as a as a whole, our whole society is kind of moving away from like cold calling as a whole. People are just tired of getting spammed and stuff like that. Like it's just, like it's not the, the way that technology is working now it's it's just not there. Like and gatekeepers, you know, we, we call them gatekeepers, but like the, the side of it, of, um, the person that is in front of the, the decision makers, is, is oh, yeah, thank you for your time, appreciate it and then click it's gone. Yeah, so I think that piece has definitely seen a change over the last 10 years. Uh, and I think a lot of that you know, especially uh, and I know in the last 18 months has changed even more because, uh, artificial intelligence, uh, intelligence voice calls came out and quickly got banned because of that reason as well.

Speaker 2:

For sure. Which I think is what makes the brand even more important.

Speaker 2:

A brand is a marketing strategy, but it's not an advertising strategy. You're not advertising to sell right. You use your brand to build trust and to create relationships and to add value, and then, when they want somebody to do their sales outreach or when they want somebody to help them get on stage, they're going to go to the people that they know and trust, and so I think that's a I. I feel I just wrote an article about this this week but I feel that human, the human communication, like communication, is a business's competitive edge. It is, and particularly in a day of AI, where a lot of the a lot of the communication is is AI driven and the AI created. But that human touch is going to be just that much more important and we have to be able to harness that as business owners.

Speaker 1:

And I think also, it's like you know you can still utilize time-saving measures to be able to help facilitate that.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't mean that you have a robot do everything for you or a program do everything for you.

Speaker 1:

It means that you can utilize your own tonality in a situation to be able to help, you know, produce better results. A lot of times, what I've seen is messaging just changes from the individual person. If they try to do it on their own, they'll change instead of, like, keeping their own tonality. They'll actually change from one message to the next instead of just like just staying very similar in their approach to. You know, like, say, a list of people that you're reaching out to, and what we've seen is like the, the, the purposefulness of it, um, will actually change because you're you're, you're changing your own message constantly. You know, having having a, like, a tonality brand to go along with how you're approaching things, cause like, uh, if you're more laid back in your approach versus like button up and professional, uh, you know, or if you're more of like a video, uh, that you're embedding into certain things. There's, there's multiple ways to be able to engage with people, and that's that's what I find very fascinating about the new approaches that are coming in.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, for sure, yeah, and it's, and it's. It's just, it's all challenging and it's all like, it's all a, it's a puzzle piece, right, it's like how does your, how does your puzzle piece fit into the bigger, bigger puzzle?

Speaker 2:

and how do you fit it in and the people that know how to do that like create those systems so you can scale and you can be in more than one place at once and you can create those conversations, because it's creating the connections and standing out in the marketplace, I think, is the. That's, that's the thing that I that is, particularly if you have a, if you have a thought leadership business or speaking business or I mean any kind of business, so it's.

Speaker 1:

So, on the on the speaking engagement, it really is like you know, you are your brand, Would you agree?

Speaker 2:

Absolutely, absolutely.

Speaker 1:

So a lot of people you know. As we get into this more and more, you you start to see that, like, social media can be used as a powerful tool, as opposed to people thinking it's like like it's, it's a cesspool of you know and and being able to utilize it for for good, as opposed to thinking about it as like there's nothing good coming from it, right? So, uh, I've, I've, I've watched many different uh videos and read many articles about, like the changing tides and like the way that organic is. You probably have two to three years of organic growth until AI just floods the market. So that's that's what I've kind of seen as well. Is that what you're kind of seeing it on brand establishment?

Speaker 2:

Yes, I do feel, I feel that push and I feel that, uh, that I do feel that that's in the conversation for sure, and particularly with what you know in business development that's in the conversation, for sure, and particularly with what you know in business development, that's that's you've got to be able to prepare to adapt.

Speaker 2:

and because there's there's some professions that are going to disappear and you know like I like copywriting, editing, you know, like those, those things, they're not necessarily going to disappear but they're going to be a lot more limited and those are big industries.

Speaker 1:

What's your thoughts, because this just popped in my head, I apologize. What's your thoughts on video speaking engagements, that there may be a time in the near future that those speaking engagements may go to like an avatar version of somebody?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, I think I've seen this happen, like in real estate companies, where they have you know my very limited knowledge about it, but they are avatars that are created and use the voice. But they are avatars that are created and use the voice. I mean, I'm a communication person, so I'm immediately going to, you know, have my hands up about that. But at the same time, if you have a large company and you need to get everybody on the same page, it's not a bad way to communicate, you know, and it's not a bad way to get people to make sure everybody's receiving the same message. Because I think that's one of the biggest challenges in organizations, just in general, is getting everybody on the same page and making sure in the same direction and know about the changes that are being made.

Speaker 2:

You know, because email is pretty ubiquitous anymore. Like I have a hard time checking my email. So it's, you know, it's there's. The way of communication is changing. So that's a, that is a way to engage. I don't. I think we will probably go there, we'll probably. I think that's maybe part of the future. I think that it will, though my optimistic side says that it's going to make that human communication even that much more important.

Speaker 1:

I agree a hundred percent. I also feel like there's going to be the you've already started to see them that there's these individual communities that are following brands. So, uh, you may have somebody I you know that comes into, like you said, the, the, the women in trades. You may have a very powerful female CEO of a of a um up and coming, uh like, say, general contracting business out of Idaho.

Speaker 2:

I'm just.

Speaker 1:

I'm just making this up as we go along, but you could have a very powerful female CEO of a general contracting business in Idaho that starts gaining traction with their brand and, instead of like, she may, have the ability to create courses and content and all of this other stuff in her own community. We're starting to see these gain a lot more traction, as opposed to just keeping everything on social media and now she's creating her own lines of other profitability sources because of those individual classes that she's teaching about general contracting. It's pretty fascinating that people are trying to get people off and in off of social media, out of the white noise of so much, and into their own communities.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, Well, cause, that's that's where the gold is. Right, right, you know, yeah, it's, it's's. It's interesting that community building is really I mean, I've seen that, I've seen the shift, that shift in the market to that space too, for sure, like membership communities and yeah, and then it can go right into those speaking engagements too, because you can have free communities.

Speaker 1:

You pull them off of there and now your speakers are are starting to generate a lot of business for themselves. You know, like that, they're creating their own brand identity. It's pretty cool to to be able to see that stuff happen. I love, I love what you're doing to be able to create that, that that community for all speakers to be able to resonate with what you're doing is, is is a fascinating piece of our, our, our whole, like economic opportunities that are out there. It's pretty cool, well done.

Speaker 2:

Thank you, I'm excited to see, excited to see where it goes. So imagine we'll be working a lot together, because you need systems to be able to scale it you know Absolutely, and that's, and that's the thing that that people see, but one.

Speaker 1:

So imagine we'll be working a lot together because you need systems to be able to scale it. You know so, absolutely, and that's, and that's the thing that that people see. But, uh, what, as we kind of wrap this up, what is the? Um, what's one thing as people, if they wanted to get into the speaking side of stuff, um, what's what's one piece of advice that you'd like to give them?

Speaker 2:

Take action, do it, and that is being around other speakers. It's the communication. Speaking has been a part of my world for a long time. I taught it at the college level for 20 some odd years. I traveled around the world teaching it and being a part of those communities, and it's a very limited, it's a very small community, but I would say the professional speaking world is similar to that. What I've discovered about it in the past year and a half or so and you know I've spoken a lot, but I tell you what my style, my brand, everything has changed since I've been more involved with the speaking community.

Speaker 2:

Because then you hear good speakers and you see what the trends are and you start to move and adapt your things to how you present your own ideas, to what works well and what doesn't work well. So I think the advice that I always gave my college students was you just have to get up and practice and and if there's something that speaking intimidates 90 of the population and you know nothing, fun is ever easy. Well, that's not, but it's like you've got to be able to take that challenge and and put yourself in a position where you're a little uncomfortable. That's business right If you're not taking challenges and you're not doing that. But I would say, for speaking, I mean a place to start, especially if you're intimidated by speaking, is go to your local Toastmasters club or Marty hosts the Speaker Speak Live group every Wednesday.

Speaker 2:

I was at that this morning and that's just something like find these spaces where you can start to be involved with those things and then it. Then then you can discover what's out there and then, once you find your voice and discover your brand and figure out how to give an elevator pitch in 30 seconds rather than five minutes, then that's where it's. That's where you have the opportunity to position yourself, to get these paid gigs or to be in a corporate. That's kind of where it is. So I mean it's. It's really just as simple as surrounding yourself with people that are doing a similar thing, and it's such a support it's like coming to achieve. You know, there's such, it's such a supportive, like everybody wants everybody else to win, right, right. Yes, there's a competition to it, but you're surrounded by people that are all trying to make their business better so.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely love, absolutely love that, and you know there's so many opportunities out there. But biggest thing is just take action. I love that there.

Speaker 2:

But biggest thing is just take action. I love that A hundred percent there. You just have to do it If it scares, you just do it.

Speaker 1:

It's, you know, fear. On the other side of fear, you'll always find your true self, you know, and once you get past that, there's nothing stopping you.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, it's, it's true, and you don't have to do it alone, and if you're in a community like that, it's going to support, maybe you'll fail. Oh well, do it again and you'll succeed the next time, which is when I started entrepreneurship stepping in entrepreneurship five, seven years ago. That was a challenge because I'm an expert, but I was not the only expert in the room, and so it's uh, that was a challenge because I was. I I'm an expert, but I was not the only expert in the room, and so it's uh, it's, it's being a part of the conversation, and sometimes your presentation is not going to land, sometimes it doesn't happen, but you can't be defeated by that. You've got to get up and do it again.

Speaker 1:

So I love it. I love it. I wish we had more time to be able to to just cover so many there. I mean we're we're bringing you back for another one because there's so much amazing stuff that we can still talk about. And uh, shelby, uh, how can people uh if they're interested in in your services? How can people get ahold of you?

Speaker 2:

LinkedIn. Social media is probably the easiest place. Shelby Jo Long is my name. My business site is shelbyjolongcom and you can find out about my speaking and all of what I have to offer there. The speaking business is Cadence Speaker Academy and we call it that because there's a cadence to speaking and you've got to do the work and you've got to follow through work and you've got to follow through certain things to be able to do that. And then also I'm in the strategic advisor board. I'm president of that and you can find information about me there too.

Speaker 1:

Fantastic. You are just a cornucopia of amazingness, and I'm so grateful to spend this time with you today. Thank you so much for coming.

Speaker 2:

Likewise, I'm looking forward to connecting with you tomorrow.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. We will be at the Achieve Conference in Denver, colorado, coming up tomorrow, so looking forward to seeing you, my friend, always a pleasure. Thanks for having me Absolutely. Once again, this is Ryan Van Ornam of the Scaling Up Success Podcast powered by Synergist. Thank you so much for tuning in and until next time, have a wonderful day.

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