Carol:
Hey, hey, hey, Rebels. Welcome to another episode of the podcast. I'm so excited about my guest today, he is going to bring a wealth of knowledge and experience that you are definitely going to want to pay attention to. His name is Bernie Borges. He is the vice president and global content marketing person at iQor, a leading BPO. He's the co-founder and advisory board member of Vengreso, the digital sales transformation company. And Bernie is also a voice-over professional and the host of the Midlife Fulfilled Podcast. And actually, that's how we met, was through his podcast.
Now, Bernie's career spans three decades in B2B marketing roles and sales roles in tech. And he founded and grew the digital marketing agency Find and Convert which, after 15 years, merged into Vengreso in 2017. Now, he speaks about marketing at industry events, he's the author of Marketing 2.0, one of his earliest books written on social media marketing, and he is been recognized by industry peers as one of the top 25 marketing executives to learn from in 2023 and from SEM Rush's top 100 content marketing influencers in 2022. He also has taught content marketing at the University of South Florida in their digital marketing certification program.
So, this individual is not only an expert in fulfilling your life in midlife but also in talking about marketing. And that is what I'm so excited to talk about today with you, Bernie, is about marketing and how marketing fits in the midlife career for so many women out there who are looking to rev up or reinvent or retool their career. So, with that, I want to thank you for being on the podcast.
Bernie:
Well, thank you so much for having me, Dr. Walsh. I'm looking forward to the next three hours because I've got a lot to cover with you on this topic.
Carol:
We're not going to go three hours, just FYI. I know we could go for three hours, so I'm really excited about that. So, why don't we just start with your career. I love that you've had this very broad in-depth career in marketing and that led you to this Midlife Fulfilled podcast. And I would love to hear about your story and your journey from where you were to where you are today.
Bernie:
Yeah, absolutely. So, I majored in marketing in college and I thought that I was going to be a product manager at Procter and Gamble. That's what I thought I was going to do for a living. And I finished my degree while I was already in technology sales during the day and I completed my degree at night. So, after I graduated, I just stayed in sales, technology sales, because I was actually enjoying it, I did well, I liked it. And then I was selling for a software company out in California, Mountain View, California, and I was working out of their headquarters office and I built relationships with the marketing team.
And then, one day, the VP of marketing, this is before CMOs existed, the VP of marketing called me into his office and said, "Bernie, you've got a lot of really good ideas. Why don't you come inside and join us?" and that was my pivot. At that point, I was in sales for about 10 years and I pivoted into marketing in that role and haven't looked back. I've been in marketing for three decades now including, as you mentioned in the intro, in my background, running my own digital marketing agency. And I love the fact that I've got the sales experience in my background that really gives me a lens that really helps me tremendously in my marketing career, especially since I've been in B2B marketing my entire career.
Carol:
Mm-hmm. And then what led you to the podcast, to Midlife Fulfilled?
Bernie:
So, I've been podcasting for 10 years now, exactly 10 years, and this is my fourth podcast. And I was in between podcasts and I had this burning desire to launch another new podcast a year ago, early 2022, and I didn't quite know what it was going to be about. So, I kept thinking what's the topic going to be and I just kept thinking and then midlife popped into my head mostly because of the phase of life that I'm in. And then I decided, well, let me do some research on that and what I discovered is that the vast majority of the midlife podcasts out there like yours are hosted by women for women. And I found very few podcasts that were not necessarily dedicated to women and then I decided to focus on the topic of fulfillment because I didn't find anything on fulfillment.
And so, I found this whole report on the happiness U curve and I dug into that and I just decided no one that I can find is talking about fulfillment. So, I just dove in and just said, "That's my thing, I'm going to focus on that," so that led me to the Midlife Fulfilled podcast.
Carol:
I love that. And I'm going to drop the link to the podcast in the show notes. It's something that you want to listen to because I love that you're talking about fulfillment in midlife because it is a topic that's not often talked about but it's such an important thing that I think so many people experience and are going through or trying to figure out in midlife and to having a place to go to as a starting place to think about and to listen to and to talk about those issues, I think, are very, very important. So, kudos to you for doing that. And again, like I said, that's how we met because I had the pleasure of being a guest on the podcast. So, you definitely want to check out that episode as well but listen to the podcast.
Bernie:
Absolutely. In fact, let me just identify here that your episode is episode 74.
Carol:
Fabulous. So, there you go, earmark it and go check it out because then you can hear another side of our conversation on that episode. So, I appreciate that. So, Bernie, what I would love to pick your brain on today which I think would be fabulous for those of us who are listening, those women at midlife, is the relationship between marketing and career advancement development particularly at midlife when ... And our audience, we're mostly women at midlife and I always talk about really struggling in terms of speaking about your brilliance and showcasing your brilliance and finding ways to do that so that people can actually find you and see everything that you bring to the table.
I'm curious, just generally, have you done any work with women or, just generally, generally in populations around helping people to identify that? And even if you haven't, what kind of ideas do you think would be important for them to know as well as maybe some areas in which you think are struggle points that people should really think about if they're going to be marketing themselves out there around their career.
Bernie:
Sure, sure. Well, I haven't specifically worked with just women per se and I really haven't focused on either men or women but really just broadly the demographic of midlife people. And there's an article that was published in, I forget the magazine, famous magazine, I think it was Fast Company, by Tom Peters and it was all about the brand called you. And that article was really eye-opening and I'll tell you what's really eye-opening about that article, and that is, are you ready for this, it published in 1997.
Now, LinkedIn did not exist in 1997, really nothing as we know it today existed in 1997. He was so ahead of his time talking about this concept of this brand called you. Well, fast forward to 2023, and it's not optional, we are all a brand. It doesn't matter what role, what job title you have or even what industry you're in, we all have a brand unless you don't exist anywhere on social media. And let's face it, if you're a knowledge worker of any kind, you need to have a LinkedIn profile. I know you're big on LinkedIn, as am I, and so, really, it starts with that level of awareness and also, if there's any level of discomfort associated with that, then go get a copy of Brian Tracy's book, I think it's called Eat Your Frog First or something like that.
Carol:
Yes, yes.
Bernie:
Do you know that book?
Carol:
Yes.
Bernie:
Right. And the concept of Eat Your Frog First is the concept of do the thing that you fear the most first, do the thing that's hardest to do first. If building your personal brand is challenging in any way, then tackle it. Just get active on LinkedIn, start by following people, and I'm not suggesting that anyone listening to this hasn't already started, but if you need to get to the next level, engage with more people, set a goal, your unique goal. And so, start with what are your current values and who do you want to be connected to within either your current industry or maybe you're looking to expand into a new industry. Identify both companies and people at those companies and start engaging with them. And one of the things that I've always been an advocate of is, before you even begin to ask people to connect with you, engage with them.
Simple analogy here. If you're at a cocktail party and you walk up to a group of, say, four or five people, you don't ask someone either for a date, if you want a date, or for a business meeting if you want a business meeting. No, you engage in conversation and-
Carol:
Yeah. You start with hi.
Bernie:
Yeah, hi and you start just engaging in conversation. You respond to something that they said and maybe you compliment them in an authentic way but you engage them in conversations so that they engage with you. The same principle applies when midlifers are struggling with social media is just look to engage with people on social media in a way that just is human. I think the two most common pillars right now in social media, and I'm not saying these are the only two but I think these are the two biggest, are LinkedIn for professional networking and Instagram which can also be for professional networking but also for a little bit more of the human touch. Although, I'm really impressed with a lot of the humanity that I'm seeing on LinkedIn these days, a lot of humanity on LinkedIn and I love that.
But on Instagram, I just posted a photo of me and my wife and something that we did over the weekend along with some other photos that support an activity that we did that was at a local beach where I said, "Hey, we're a tourist this weekend," that sort of thing. And I'm going to put that on Instagram, not on LinkedIn. But doing both, showing who you are as a real person, not a fake person, not someone you want people to think you are, but really, truly just being yourself. And I'm going to say this too, and that is that, if you have strong opinions on controversial topics and you are okay sharing them, then go ahead. If that's who you are, be you.
Carol:
Mm-hmm.
Bernie:
I've heard advice don't talk about politics. You know what? If that's your thing or you just really want to express yourself, I know lots of people that I know professionally and they express their political views. I respect them for it. Whether or not I align with them, that doesn't matter. I respect them for just their voice, they're sharing their voice because they want to. And if you don't want to, that's okay too, there's no right or wrong. The only right or wrong, so to speak, I'm using air quotes for the listener, is just to be you, be real, be authentic and share content.
That's the other thing, Dr. Walsh, just that you've got to share content in order to build your brand, whether it is your original content or your repurposing content. So, for example, on my Midlife Fulfilled podcast, of course I'm sharing my own content. Your episode is going to get shared out there just like every episode will but I'm sharing other content from other credible sources that's just provides relevant information. If I can inform, if I can educate, even entertain a little bit, then that helps me and my brand as well.
Carol:
Yeah, I love that. Okay, so you shared a lot of valuable, valuable information. I want to go back to something because I definitely think there are people here who are beginners and advanced because some people have avoided it like the plague. But one of the things that you said is that we all have a brand and I think that is such an important concept because I think people believe, well, if I'm not on social or if I don't post or if I post sporadically, my brand's out there yet and not realizing that both your absence and your presence sends a message. Either one sends some type of a message that your brand could be created, whether you are curating it or managing it or not, that it exists out there. Would you agree with that? What more would you say about that with people thinking, "Oh, no, I haven't really put my brand out there."?
Bernie:
Yeah. So, I'll come back to what I said earlier about there's no right or wrong. However, if you want to achieve some next step in your career and you don't currently have a strong personal brand, then I really think you should think about that because you might be selling yourself short, you might be missing out on opportunities because you're not visible. So, again, it's not wrong to not be visible but it could limit your career opportunities just depending on what your goals are. So, it does start with that.
Carol:
Yeah, you said that. Your goals matter.
Bernie:
Yeah.
Carol:
Yeah, your goals matter.
Bernie:
Exactly. So, if someone has a goal, and I know that you're specifically asking me to address women in midlife. So, if women in midlife have a goal of advancing their career in some way, shape or form, whatever that looks like, then just think about your personal brand. How are you known today? If the answer is not known at all, then ask yourself how do you want to be known, for what subject matter do you want to be known, for what domain or industry or topic do you want to be known. And then start engaging with people who are already known, you can just search for them.
You can do hashtag searches or even keyword searches and start engaging with those people. Back to that analogy of, if you're at a cocktail party and there's a group of people, you engage in conversation. You don't walk up to someone and say, "I want a business meeting with you." You start a conversation and you hope to engage in a human conversation which maybe, at some point, in some conversation, it may not be that one might result in a business meeting if you ask with the right timing.
So, engaging with people, build the KLT factor, the know, like and trust factor. It's just that elementary. You want to build that know, like and trust factor. And so, back to what do you want to be known for and then just start showing up around that topic consistently. Not every 17 and a half days, but ideally every day, ideally. And here's another point on that, Dr. Walsh. So, I've often heard, "Well, I don't have time. I don't have time. I'm crazy busy, I'm crazy busy." Okay, it's like maybe going to the gym. If you haven't gotten into the habit, in the beginning, you have to force yourself. Eventually, it becomes habit. Eventually, it becomes part of your routine.
And you don't really even have to think about putting it on your schedule or your calendar because, eventually, it is part of your routine. But if it's something that you're not accustomed to and it isn't routine now, then you do have to force it. Like starting going to the gym for the very first time, you have to force that before it does become routine.
Carol:
That is a great analogy because, you're right, I hear that all the time is that I don't have time to be on social media. And sometimes I translate that to mean you're just afraid you're going to get trapped on social media for an hour because you're not posting, you're looking at everybody else's content. And really, if you're just focused on spending 10 minutes a day just putting something out there, that's really all the ... I think there's this misnomer, this idea that it's going to take hours to really show up in the digital space.
Bernie:
Yeah. Another analogy that I would share is think of it as making a deposit. And to take this analogy all the way, I'm making a deposit in a bank and let's say it's small deposits. Again, just to stick with the analogies, let's just say it was a dollar a day and every day you're just making a deposit in the bank, every day. So, you can just feel good that every day you're just making a deposit. When you're spending time engaging with people, relevant people, okay?
Carol:
Yeah.
Bernie:
If you're watching cat videos, that's not relevant, you're not making a deposit watching cat videos unless cats are your topic. In that case, yes. But if that's not the case, you're not making a deposit.
Carol:
Yes. If you're a veterinarian and you treat cats, then that's perfect.
Bernie:
Right, right.
Carol:
If you're engineer though who's doing product development, that may not be your jam.
Bernie:
Exactly. So, just think of it as you're making deposits every day.
Carol:
Love that.
Bernie:
And then, eventually, those deposits begin to return to you. Again, when you're building that know, like and trust factor, you can reach a point in engagement with people where you feel confident asking for someone to meet with you or asking someone to give you an introduction to someone else or a referral which is like an introduction. But that's something that you have to feel confident about based on you've built some know, like and trust with the people you're engaging with.
Carol:
Yeah. I love that analogy about making a deposit because you are. It's like an investment into your career or to you having more visibility or showing up. And I remember I was talking with someone and they were at a conference and they shared with me that, and it was a lot of CEOs at the conference, and they talked about how they are actually going onto LinkedIn and looking up their employees to see what they're saying and how they're contributing to the industry or how they're showing up and representing their company. Because, obviously, as a CEO of a big company, they don't know everybody that works there but they are using LinkedIn to see who are the stars in their company and actually tapping those people to do certain projects or to show up a certain way on behalf of the company. So, there definitely is a payoff in the end because people will find you and see you particularly if you're consistent and if you're visible. So, I think that is great.
The other thing I often hear, and I'm sure you do too, is what do I post. This idea of posting content becomes this nebulous idea of I have no idea what to say or what should I be saying. And I know you talked about values and goals and the ways in who you want to be connected to as a way to show up on LinkedIn. But in terms of content, what is some of your tips or advice on doing that in a way that's not overly time consuming but definitely keeps you in line with your brand?
Bernie:
Sure. Okay, I've got a simple little three-letter acronym, also known as a TLA, in case you didn't know that one. So, this one is OPC, other people's content.
Carol:
Okay.
Bernie:
So, simply share other people's content. Now, what do I mean by that? Well, depending on your topic, so you mentioned engineering, okay? Let's just say it's civil engineering. So, there's no shortage, I'm sure. I don't know from firsthand experience but I'm sure there's no shortage of websites and blogs on civil engineering and, again, that's just an example. So, bookmark a whole bunch of those and, once a day, find an interesting article in this example that I'm using on civil engineering. Take that link and it's public domain content. I've been asked, "Can I share that?" Of course you can, it's public domain content.
Take the link to that article and then drop it into a LinkedIn post on LinkedIn and add your commentary to it. Just say something about your observation about what you read in that article. You don't have to say a lot. You can, if you want. LinkedIn gives you up to, I think, it's 2,000 characters, which is a lot, you don't have to use them. You can just say a sentence or two or however much you want to say. That's easy to do because it's your topic, it's your area of focus and expertise.
Carol:
Yeah.
Bernie:
OPC.
Carol:
I love it. That's [inaudible 00:21:56] the song, you down with OPC. [inaudible 00:21:59] to frame it. I love that. And that's such an easy thing to do and I love your suggestion about just add a sentence or two with it so, that way, it just gives people an idea of your thought or your opinions or it just centers you around the other people's content that you're sharing. But I think that is such great advice and it's an easy thing to do particularly if you're going to bookmark some other articles or blogs or things of that nature that, when something pops up of interest, then you could go ahead and post that.
Bernie:
One thing that I do on that is I will pick out one specific point from the article and then I'll add my thoughts in that article. And that does two things. Number one is it gives me something to say but it also demonstrates that I read the article. So, what I don't advise is someone just copying an article and saying, "Great article." You're not lending any value and that's what you want to do. It's just like walking up to a conversation at a cocktail party and someone says something and you go, "Great point," and then you don't say anything else. Share something, say something that has meaning.
Carol:
Yeah, yeah.
Bernie:
And so, pick something from the article and comment on it.
Carol:
Yeah. So, this brings me back to another point you talked about which was being authentic and showing up authentically online. Because I think there's also, and you could tell me if you have heard about this in your experience, I think people at midlife, we have been raised with this idea of showing up professionally in professional spaces. So, this idea being authentic and real feels, to some people, unprofessional. That they should keep their game face on at all time when they're in the social space because that's how they were taught to show up at work. How do you help people reconcile that to really show up and be genuine and authentically themselves?
Bernie:
Sure. Well, if you think about any career, no one is hiring a robot. We don't work with companies, we work with people inside of companies. And so, the common theme there is that they're all humans, we are working with humans. So, whether we want to admit this or not, there's a harsh reality out there. If there were five people that I was looking at on, say, five different tabs on LinkedIn and they all had, let's say, pretty similar experience. If one of them seemed a little more interesting to me with no less experience, that person's going to have an edge in terms of the impression that they make on me. And if I only need to contact one or two people, it might be the one that seems a little more interesting to me, all other things being equal. So, it comes down to humanity. It really, really does.
Carol:
Yeah. That is so awesome and it's so true. It's just those little things that can differentiate you from someone else. If I feel like there's a connection that I can make with you above someone else because, like you said, you're working with people. But yeah, I know people, they get really weird about being personal in that space. And [inaudible 00:25:25]-
Bernie:
Yeah. And one other-
Carol:
Yeah, please.
Bernie:
One other point. And I know you're big on LinkedIn as well and I know you're going to agree with me on this, I know it. And that is your photo, your photo on LinkedIn. You know what I want to see when I look at your photo? I want to see your teeth. Smile, look happy, look like someone that I'm going to have a good encounter with. Don't look mad or say so serious that like, "Hmm, I don't know if I want to talk to that person."
Carol:
Yeah, yeah.
Bernie:
Again, it comes back to that humanity factor. Look approachable, look like you're someone that that first conversation is going to be enjoyable because you've got that appearance.
Carol:
Yeah, yeah. And speaking of which, I always tell people, "Please don't post pictures of you 20 years ago. Let it be current so that, if I actually meet you, you look like the picture that I'm seeing and not when you were 20 years younger and [inaudible 00:26:26]" because that's another thing that I think people struggle with a little bit. And speaking of authenticity and being real, it's just showing this is who I am and this is where I am today, yeah.
Bernie:
Exactly, exactly.
Carol:
So, the other thing, I know as a marketer, as a digital marketer, I'm sure you worked with other companies who are looking to rebrand. They maybe started out one way and now they're maybe seeking to, I don't know, either launch something new or shifted up and change their whole look. We saw Meta rebranded from Facebook and we see that all the time. For an individual who was looking ... Maybe they have spent, using our earlier example, a career in civil engineering and now they want to maybe switch to a career, and I'm just coming up with this. So, if people are like, "That's crazy," but I'm going to say it anyway, maybe they want to go into a career in pharmaceutical sales, I don't know. So, something that's really swinging the pendulum to something different.
Are there ways that you would suggest that people think about how to change the narrative so that they're seen more in the light of a pharmaceutical sales rep as opposed to the career they spent as a civil engineer?
Bernie:
Well, using that example, Dr. Walsh, if I wanted to switch to pharmaceutical sales, then I'm going to ask myself, well, what can I do to exude some credentials around that. Well, if I don't have that in my background, I better start posting content about it. Maybe I'll even go all the way to an extreme and start a blog about pharmaceutical something or other and make sure that I'm producing content around that so that, if I want to make that switch, I'm not asking someone to take me at my word that I'm going to really embrace this, I want to show that I've already embraced this domain. So, I've got to start making that part of my brand, not wishing it to be part of my brand, but actually making it part of my brand.
Going back to things I've already discussed here, the OPC and just sharing content around that. And then even on LinkedIn, as you know, we have an about section and we get 2,000 characters in that about section. Tell your story there, tell your pharmaceutical sales transition story, whatever that is, tell it there but tell it there in a humane way and, by the way, in first person. This was subjective, some people may disagree with me, I think telling that story in first person. I this and I that as opposed to someone writing it in third person, that feels very distant and formal and I think takes away from that human element that I keep talking about being so important.
Carol:
Yeah, yeah. I'm glad you brought that up because that's often a question is that, again, that whole formality that maybe we were taught or grew up with to keep it in the third person and to keep that distance because it's supposed to be professional and not build the connection. And I just love so much of what you're sharing that it really is about connection. You show up at the cocktail party, you're saying hi, you're saying look at me in the picture and so on and so forth. So, all great, great, great information and great content there.
The other question I have about LinkedIn is recommendations and whether or not ... I've heard that people don't really ask for recommendations anymore particularly if they could go to your LinkedIn profile and see some recommendations or people speaking about you in your field or, if you're transitioning, speaking about you in the new field and writing something there. Do you have thoughts or comments around the recommendations section on LinkedIn?
Bernie:
Yeah, I think the recommendations area of LinkedIn can be very powerful. I think reaching out and asking people that you've worked with recently and even in years past to write a recommendation for you, especially people that you've reported directly to, but then also writing recommendations for people that you've worked with and worked for. Because you know what LinkedIn does? You know what LinkedIn does. When I write a recommendation for someone, then LinkedIn turns around and says to that person, "Would you like to write a recommendation for Bernie?" And not that it always happens but it certainly can and there's no reason to be shy about it.
Write a recommendation and, if you know the person well enough, then ask them to write a recommendation for you or just start out by asking for a recommendation especially for people that you've reported into in the past. Absolutely, that can be very, very powerful.
Carol:
Yeah. Okay, great. Thank you for sharing that. So, I want to ask another question about the about section because I just want to go back to that for a second. Because you talked about speaking about it in first person and sharing experiences that are related to your areas of interest. Probably, as you said earlier, your values, your goals and the ways that you want to be seen and connected.
There's been a lot of conversation around storytelling, digital storytelling, and being able to speak from that perspective, to not just, basically, regurgitating your resume in prose form but instead actually telling a story that builds connections. What is your tips or advice in terms of how to do that well?
Bernie:
Yeah. So, the storytelling comes down to writing and sometimes people need help with that. But to your point, I think it's a great point, and that is tell your story. So, for example, about section, the first three, maybe four lines are what shows, quote, unquote, above the fold. And what I mean by above the fold is, when you're looking at a LinkedIn profile, the about section is only going to display the first three or four lines. And then, if you want to read the rest of it, there's two little words there that are hyperlinked and it says see more. So, those three or four lines need to begin to tell a story that would inspire someone to click see more and open up the rest of the about section.
So, in those first three or four lines, grab their attention and be creative, think of some way of grabbing their attention. You can begin to tell a story and it can be a little off topic to just get someone's attention but then connect it, don't do it as a bait and switch thing. Connect it, bridge to your career and your value proposition and what you've done in the past. I've heard people say things like, "When I was eight years old, I was at a theme park with my parents and I was just enamored by the employees that were there. They really loved their job and it really made me realize the importance of customer service." And then that person bridged into their entire career being around customer service but they began by telling the story of when they were eight years old and an experience that they remembered and how enamored they were by customer service.
That's a great example. So, think of a creative way to tell a story, open up with something that's unique and a little attention grabbing and then capture their attention and then bring it into your career story and tell it in a way that is truly a story and not a, quote, unquote, resume. And let me also add one other point and that is I'm a big fan of, in the about section, including a little bit of information, personal information. So, for example, in my case, I say, "On the weekends, you might find me kayaking on the waters of Tampa Bay with my wife," that kind of thing. It just shows a little glimpse into who I am outside of work.
Carol:
Yeah, I love that. And it builds connection and it's not you telling everything about you and your family. And I think there's this misconception that I have to share all my personal information and you're just putting one little tidbit that gives a little glimpse about who you are, what you're interested in and could build some level of connection. Even when you said earlier that you worked in Mountain View, the first thing that popped to my mind is my sister lives in Mountain View and I've been to Mountain View a hundred times. And so, immediately, there's a whole thing we could talk about and what was it like to live in Mountain View.
These little tidbits of information can help to build relationship and build connection that, to your point, builds that know, like and trust factor that is so important that will differentiate you from other people who are trying to go after the same position or promotion or the like. Such good tips and information, yeah, yeah.
Anything else that you would want to share for the midlife professional who is trying to tiptoe into the digital space and to showcase their brilliance in a way that maybe they haven't thought about before?
Bernie:
So, I think what I'll say is I'll come back to the concept that I was discussing earlier and that is that, if it's something that's new to you, then force yourself to do it in the beginning so that you can eventually get to the point at which it's habit because that's where the magic happens. And here's what can and will happen eventually. While I can't predict when it will happen or to what extent but it can happen and it will happen. And that is that, at some point, someone will reach out to you based on how you have been engaging and showing up online. At some point, that will happen. And don't be surprised if they say something like, "I've noticed that you've been posting content on X, Y, Z and I really like what you've been saying about X, Y and Z." Don't be surprised if that happens but don't expect it to happen in a week and you can't even predict when it will happen. But if you're consistent, it will happen eventually.
Carol:
Yes. And don't panic and shut down your site because someone responded because you freaked out about somebody responding. That's the whole point, engage, it's a beautiful opportunity to engage. And the other thing, I've had other people share with me that they're very hesitant to connect to other people that they don't actually know. And one of the things that I have tried to instruct individuals is that, of course you don't know most of the people on LinkedIn. It's great to connect to who you know but the idea is to expand that connection and create new ones and the only way to try to get to know them is to accept those connections from people that you don't know and to try to establish those initial conversations.
So, I think that's another thing that I would say, if somebody does comment on everything you're doing, to actually engage with the other person as well. Yeah, yeah.
Bernie:
Exactly, exactly. You never know who they know.
Carol:
Yes, that's a great point. They always say there's five degrees, seven degrees of separation. I think, now, in this global digital economy, there's probably three degrees of separations between the people that you know and the people that they know so, absolutely. Particularly if you're looking to transition or promote, you want to expand that network as much as possible because you don't know who people know and who that next connection could be-
Bernie:
Exactly.
Carol:
... that could get you into that new career or transitioning to something new.
Bernie:
Yup.
Carol:
So, Bernie, I would love to ask you, when you hear the term midlife career rebel, what comes to mind for you?
Bernie:
Well, besides you, because that's the name of your podcast, but a midlife career rebel is someone who is excited to get out of bed in the morning, they have a purpose. When that alarm goes off in the morning, they're ready, they have a purpose and they're excited about their day. To me, that is a midlife career rebel.
Carol:
Ugh, I love that. That is so powerful, so powerful. Bernie, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast. Could you please share where can people find you, find the podcast to learn more?
Bernie:
Sure. Well, thank you for having me, it's been a blast. So, my podcast is the Midlife Fulfilled podcast, I have a website called midlifefulfilled.com. And then, of course, I am active on LinkedIn and, really, most social media channels where I'm active, it's just my name, Bernie Borges and the last name is B-O-R-G-E-S. And again, Dr. Walsh, thank you so much for having me on the Midlife Career Rebel podcast. I love what you're doing on your podcast.
Carol:
Thank you, I so much appreciate that. And please check out Bernie, not only listen to the podcast, but check out his LinkedIn and Instagram so you can get some ideas about a real marketer, how they're putting their information out there in the world. It may give you some ideas and help you to feel a little bit safe and unafraid to go out there and put your information out there as well. Thank you again, Bernie.
Bernie:
Thank you, Dr. Walsh.
Carol:
All right, Rebels. Well, that's it for the podcast. This is going to be one you're going to want to definitely bookmark and listen to again and again. There were so many nuggets, I took so many notes, actually, just listening to Bernie that will really help. The OPC one was the big one for me. So, definitely make sure that you listen, take some notes, you'll probably listen again and again. And hey, I will see you next time on the podcast and, until then, have an amazingly rebellious week. I'll see you soon.
