Why is obscurity a bigger enemy than confidentiality to entrepreneurs? With Rusty Shelton

Prowly: 0:24

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Jim James: 0:34

Hello, and welcome to this episode of The UnNoticed Entrepreneur. With me today is Rusty Shelton over in Austin, Texas. Rusty, welcome to the show.

Rusty Shelton: 0:43

Thank you, Jim. I appreciate you having me.

Jim James: 0:45

Well, we're delighted to have you join us all the way over there and you're the founder and CEO of Zilker Media And we're gonna talk about how entrepreneurs can punch above their weight uh, books and becoming authority, and also how servant leadership has changed and it's not like it used to be and how as entrepreneurs who are unnoticed, we need to change the way we behave there. first of all, tell us a little bit about you, 'cause you set up multiple businesses. You sold one, after six years only in the author marketing space, and now you've got another business. So, just help us understand a little bit more about you.

Rusty Shelton: 1:20

Sure. Well, again, thanks for having me, Jim and I really been looking forward to this. So I spent my whole career really in the thought leadership space. Started out back in college as an intern at a book PR firm here in Austin, Texas. Spent the first seven years of my career at that firm and learned a lot about how to go out and really use books and content as a way to make an impact to teach, but also to drive authority and visibility for a business. And so, after a couple of years of talking myself out of it, launched my first agency in 2010. That agency was called "Shelton Interactive" and we were really a book marketing and PR agency launched 35, New York Times, Wall Street Journal bestsellers, and some of the biggest business books in the world, including books like, "The ONE Thing". And really the emphasis for that book, Jim, was to go out and help books make big impact as they could. And so, we were fortunate enough to get acquired in 2016 by Advantage Media Group, Forbes Books, and, you know, still do a lot of work with them. And then launch the current agency, "Zilker Media" in 2017 and having a lot of fun with that.

Jim James: 2:27

Yeah, great. And I can see on the wall behind you. Rusty's got two books, "Authority Marketing" and also "Mastering the New Media Landscape". He's also spoken at South by Southwest and has a host of information in it So, Rusty, books for most entrepreneurs, they seem just out of reach because even writing a blog post can seem kinda challenging. Are books really necessary for a business owner in order to establish their authority?

Rusty Shelton: 2:56

I think that books do more for authority and thought leadership than almost anything else, Jim. And the reason why is because of the significance that we attach to somebody that's written a book on the topic. And you know, I think the status, like 90% of adults want to write a book at some point in their life, and I would guess many of your viewers and listeners probably fall into that camp. Most people don't ever get over the hump because of the perceived enormity of the project. And so, what I would encourage for a lot of entrepreneurs that are watching and listening to this is, how do you eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time. It is a process. And you know, 45,000 words for many of you is something that is four to six months of just consistent micro-writing that happens on a daily basis. So Jim, from my perspective, it's something that there's a lot of perceived friction around it, and certainly it takes time. But I think for many entrepreneurs that I see, once some momentum gets built, it's something that can be done.

Jim James: 3:58

Rusty, I noticed in your books that you've got behind you, you've written those with co-authors, Adam Witty and Barbara Cave Henricks. Is that a good strategy for an entrepreneur that may be is struggling? Because one is to use ghost writers, but you've partnered with fellow authors. How does that work?

Rusty Shelton: 4:15

Sure. So, for me, it's always worked best to have a co-author because the idea is to each bring different expertise to give a kind of a full view of the topic area. I wouldn't go out and get a co-author just for help writing. I think there's plenty of ways to just get the writing done. Where I think a co-author makes sense is where it's strategically important for the business. That relationship or that partnership, but also bringing unique perspectives to the table.

Jim James: 4:42

Okay, that's really useful. And also to some degree, the problem shared is a problem halved, isn't it? So, if you're challenged with writing, if you buddy up in the same way, you might, if you were trynna do a marathon or some other challenge, it could be a great way to get over the first one. Rusty, I know you've got another book coming up around servant leadership, and do Rusty, do you want to with us what you think is happening in terms of the levels of trust that people have around companies and leaders now, and how servant leadership plays into that changing landscape?

Rusty Shelton: 5:17

Sure. So, the new book is called,

"The Authority Advantage: 5:19

Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact Not Ego". So, the last two books have really been marketing focused and what we felt like was needed with this new book was really more about a leadership book and really the emphasis here. We're in an environment right now where statistics are telling us, "Trust in institutions and businesses is actually at its lowest level on record", since they started doing the poll. And so the reality of that for entrepreneurs and leaders that are watching or listening to this right now is, "Nobody trusts your business or institution the way that they used to". Okay. They just don't, in other words, when I hear from your business or your institution, I am immediately skeptical of the message that I'm getting. And so, what I find for a lot of entrepreneurs that really disturbs me and gives me a lot of concern is most entrepreneurs are still leading with the corporate brand in everything they do. I'm getting an email newsletter from their LLC, I'm hearing messaging from the business. And the problem with that is every dime that you spend, marketing, generating messaging around the business where you lead with the business, you're getting a fractional return on that. And so, my encouragement for entrepreneurs and leaders that are listening to this is, "Although nobody trusts your business anymore, they're willing to trust you if you're visible to them". And so we often say for entrepreneurs the best thing you can do is, "Shift the perception of you, from operator with something to sell to instead, mission-driven thought leader with something to teach." In other words, you need to really lead as somebody that people can learn from versus the brand that is operator of a business in the market, perception is commodity has something to sell.

Jim James: 7:09

That is really interesting, Rusty. I love that idea that we have to move to be sort of trusted again. With the idea of books, you've said you think there's a market for leadership and this sort of vacuum now of trust. How do you think the entrepreneur could decide what to write about? Because most entrepreneurs are so busy thinking about cash flow, product, in light of what you're saying. How can they decide what to write about so that it resonates and doesn't seem just self-serving, but is actually genuinely moving a cause and moving the hearts and minds of potential customers and partners?

Rusty Shelton: 7:50

Well, this is where I think a lot of leaders discount what they have to offer. It's been my experience that high performing leaders almost without fail, have more "Imposter Syndrome" than anybody. In other words, for a lot of those high performing leaders, the thought of being the author of a book, speaking on stage, teaching at more scale, you know, there's some "Imposter Syndrome" that I see really hold people back there. And so what I would encourage for a lot of people that are listening and watching this, the stuff that you're doing right now behind the scene, right? The teaching that you're doing in your boardroom with your team, the work that you do with clients directly. That content right now is content you're already delivering. It's just that you're delivering it in an environment where it's one-to-one or one to few. And so part of the encouragement here, whether it's with a book or with a blog or with a podcast is, "Let's take that content that could make a much bigger impact and also help you build your business, help you punch above your weight class in terms of visibility and let's move it upstream at scale". Whether it's somebody that's thinking about accepting that job at your business, whether it's a customer that's thinking about whether or not they wanna raise their hand and learn more about working with you. They are interested in getting to know you before they deal with you directly. Right before they walk in the door for that interview, before they raise their hand for that proposal. And if there's no way to get to know you beyond a resume style LinkedIn profile, or a really basic bio on your website, you are missing a golden opportunity to differentiate yourself from the other options that are out there.

Jim James: 9:30

Rusty, I love that idea that you take what you are doing internally, and you externalize that for future audiences or potential audiences. What about the idea and the challenge that people have got? One is that information is confidential that, I'm somehow gonna give away my company's secrets. And the second is, Well, my internal PowerPoint to my sales team about what we're gonna do next isn't really ready for external consumption. So first of all, how do you deal with the confidentiality question, Rusty Shelton?

Rusty Shelton: 10:04

Well, confidentiality question. My encouragement for leaders and entrepreneurs is the bigger question is not, "Is somebody gonna steal my ideas?" It's, "Is somebody gonna actually hear my ideas". In other words, obscurity is a much bigger enemy for entrepreneurs and leaders than some concern around confidentiality. There may be certain pieces of the mix that you don't include in a book. But, Jim, in my experience, the best books are not "Rusty's story" or my particular insights. It's a framework that I'm creating that somebody can take and personalize in their business. In other words, I'm giving them from experience, the ability to take something, a framework, that becomes about them. It's one of my favorite things about this book "The ONE Thing" written by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan. This is essentially the story of how Keller Williams was built into the biggest real estate company in the world. But this book is formated in a way that every leader, every entrepreneur that reads it, it's a framework that I can take and personalize with a PR agency in Austin, Texas, with a global consultancy out in New York, wherever it might be. And so, my encouragement for people that are thinking about writing a book or creating content is create something that is not about you, but as a framework that somebody else can take and personalize.

Jim James: 11:19

Rusty, I love that idea. And you've talked before about leadership and servant leadership, and you've also shared that you think that it's changed because in the past, the CEO, for example, the entrepreneur would be diligently coaching, training, facilitating, and there was this sort of sense that you should put your team first. You know, you put your brand first and that the entrepreneur to some degree, certainly in the UK, should almost be sort of shy of attention and let the brand do the talking, let the business do the talking and so on. Why do you think that has changed and the impact on this sort of servant leader? Because what you're explaining is it's almost leader becoming teacher-leader, becoming facilitator, isn't it? How do you explain that?

Rusty Shelton: 12:07

It is. Well, I think Jim, you know, the reality is servant leaders are focused on empowering their teams, operating at a high degree of excellence, et cetera. The mindset has always been, "Put my head down behind the scenes, over-deliver for my team, for my customers, and for my partners". And by the way, I don't want you to change any of that. You got to continue doing all of those things. But, if that's all you're doing, you are limiting the impact of the leadership itself. Because today, the first place that potential customers, potential talent, potential partners are gonna interact with you is not gonna be directly, it's not gonna be in the boardroom, it's not gonna be over the phone, it's page one of Google. From there, if you're lucky, it's on your website, it's on your LinkedIn profile. And Jim, what I would say for servant leaders that are listening to this, when they hear the "Thought Leadership" or "Authority Marketing" or "Personal Branding" You know, there's often visible response when I say that from the stage, because for most leaders, our thoughts immediately go to people that are building ego-driven, "Hey, look at me brands." And so to be crystal clear for your listeners and for your viewers, when I'm talking about building thought leadership, I want you to be the messenger, not the message. In other words, if we've got a message to get out from your business, from your institution, from your nonprofit. If you are communicating that message through the corporate brand, we are making this much harder on ourselves than we need to. Alongside that corporate brand, my strong encouragement to leaders is the speed to trust for you as a mission-driven thought leader, as an individual, is dramatically quicker than it is with your business. And so, if you're not willing to step out alongside the company as that on-ramp, again, you are, in my opinion, not serving your team, not serving your business in the way that you could be.

Jim James: 14:10

I love the way that you phrased that, Rusty, and this idea of being the on-ramp and that you can build trust with an individual more quickly than you can with an organization which as you say, entirely logical in many ways, but from an emotional point of view, I think people struggle with that, don't they? From the implication then, for example, on Twitter or on Facebook, or on LinkedIn, founders should be if like under their own name as opposed to say, having their own company Twitter account. What's your guidance there?

Rusty Shelton: 14:39

Yeah, so my guidance there is both. Again, typically what I see Jim, is we've got a corporate brand, whether that is, you know, LinkedIn, company page, or a Twitter account, or a corporate website. And then we've got the CEO or the entrepreneur that's taking a significant backseat in terms of visibility to that corporate brand. What I'm encouraging is not getting out front of the company or the institution, it's actually out alongside it, as an on-ramp back to that institution. Jim, I know you are aware the algorithm, whether it is LinkedIn or other social media channels, is giving a lot more organic reach to individuals than it is to company pages. And so when we talk about "visibility", just pure and simple numbers, you are gonna get a lot further with your individual brand than you are with the company. But the other thing, and this is tactical for a second, Jim. I wanna encourage everybody that's watching this, that's listening to this to do a bit of an online brand audit for themselves. And so the question I want you to ask yourself, I've been referred to you, I've got your name, I don't have your email address, I don't have your website address. If I have your name and I pop your name into Google, number one, "Can you be found?" And if the answer to that is, "No", there's one of two reasons. Either, you've just intentionally been a ghost on lineup to this point, and if so, hopefully Jim and I are getting you over the hump today. The second reason, which is much more common, Jim, is you share a name, either with a very famous Olympian, or football player, or ex murderer from the 70s, or in your case, lead singer of a very popular band, or you've got a name that's just super common. So my encouragement for entrepreneurs and leaders is make a decision on "Do you need to change your name?" "Do you need to add a middle initial or a middle name?" David Meerman Scott, one of my favorite PR and marketing authors. He wrote the foreword to our upcoming book. His name is David Scott, and he recognized really early in his career, that was a name he was never gonna own, search for. And so adding that middle name became a really important way for him to number one, own search, but also be able to convert some of those referrals that he got.

Jim James: 16:52

I love that idea because my name comes up with a bearded rockstar, and I wouldn't mind having such a massive beard, and such a gray head of hair, and having a rockstar lifestyle. But, that's not happening for me. That's a really good suggestion, Rusty. Rusty, you've been an entrepreneur. I want to just ask you very quickly. What are you doing as an entrepreneur to get noticed?

Rusty Shelton: 17:13

Yeah. What's worked for me is just leaning in on teaching. So, teaching for me becomes the motivation to get out and get on stage, to do things like the podcast, or write books. In other words, the motivation there is really, I feel like so many entrepreneurs are making it much harder on themselves than they need to by leading with the company. And so if I can go out and kind of grab them by the shoulders and show them a way to do this, that's focused on impact not ego. I feel like I can really help many of them really unlock a lot of opportunity in their business. And so, I think leaning in on teaching and the moment that voice starts to get into my head, Jim, around, "I don't want somebody to think I'm doing this for visibility, or for ego, or personal brand." What I'll always go back to is just, "If the focus here is value and teaching, I'm gonna lean into that and I'm gonna leave people better off as I do that." And so that becomes really I think, a much more effective motivation for somebody that has some of that self-talk, including me.

Jim James: 18:12

Rusty Sheldon, I can see why you're so successful with your business with "Zilker Media" over there in Austin, Texas. If people want to find out more about you, where can they go to do that?

Rusty Shelton: 18:23

Sure. So I do a lot of speaking, a lot of workshop work, and you can go to "rustyshelton.com" and learn a little bit more about that if this would be helpful for your EO or YPO forum, or other conference. And then "zilkermedia.com" is the website for our agency, "forbesbooks.com" is another site that I do a lot of work with for people that are wanting to learn a little bit more about getting a book published.

Jim James: 18:43

And you were able to own "rustyshelton.com" which is fantastic. I was in China when I bought my domain name. So, I got the ".cn" but not the ".com". So, that's Rusty Shelton. Of course, I'll put Rusty's details in the show notes as always. Rusty, thank you so much for sharing with the fellow unnoticed entrepreneurs and me today about, how we can transcend, really our reticence about being a brand and leading with ourselves, and not necessarily being from behind as a servant, but being at the front and being a messenger of great things for others rather than just all about ourselves. So, thank you so much, Rusty.

Rusty Shelton: 19:21

Jim, it's been such a pleasure. Thanks for having me.

Jim James: 19:23

You've been a real star guest and as always, thank you very much for listening to this episode of The UnNoticed Entrepreneur with me, Jim James here. If you enjoyed it, please do share it with a fellow entrepreneur. And if you've got the time, give a rating or review on a podcast app. And until we meet again, encourage you to keep on communicating. Think about authoring.

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