Career Advancement Through Relationship Strategy with Michael Roderick - (Episode 100)

Today's Business Leaders with Gabe Arnold

As an entrepreneur, it can be difficult to know the right way to market yourself to others. How do you get other people to understand your big idea? How do you get others to remember your idea? How do you get people to keep talking about you even after you leave a meeting? Today’s Business Leader guest, Michael Roderick, has the answers.

Michael got his first taste of entrepreneurship in high school. To help raise money for the English department, he organized a battle of the bands fundraiser. He learned basic business skills such as event management, planning, organizing and marketing. He continued these skills in college while studying English and theatre. He noticed that his fellow theatre students struggled with interviews and networking so, he helped them market themselves.

After college, Michael taught high school English and ran a theatre company in New York. During this time, he built relationships with people in Broadway and taught workshops. In just two years, Michael went from teaching high school to being a Broadway producer.

As a producer, He had to know how to market himself and the plays in his portfolio to entice investors. Michael took these skills and transferred them into his workshops to help his clients. He calls his method referable branding. His idea expanded into a full-time consulting business, Small Pond Enterprises. From the arts to the business world, Michael helps clients with networking and interviewing skills to advance their careers.

The framework behind referable branding comes from three basic principles. Accessibility, Influence and Memorability. Michael calls the framework “taking AIM”. How do you make yourself accessible to others outside of your industry? How can your idea influence others? How can you market your idea to look cool to others? How do you make people remember you and talk about you even after you leave? With the use of this framework, Michael helps clients from a variety of industries grow their brand and enhance their networking skills.

Learn more about Michael and Small Pond Enterprises by visiting his website here or listening to his podcast, Access to Anyone.

Keep up with Michael and Small Pond Enterprises on Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin.