57. David Topus talks to strangers

Our guest today is David Topus, who helps his clients turn reputation into revenue. I think that's a pretty great positioning, encapsulating what David does in four words. And that's what you'd expect from a professional who has been running a strategic sales messaging firm for over twenty-eight years. In the first half of our discussion, we cover personal branding, with a focus on how to enhance your LinkedIn profile. In the second half of the episode, we discuss David's most recent book, Talk to Strangers, which is a guidebook on how to initiate conversations with strangers and includes dozens of examples of how David and those whom he has coached have turned conversations with strangers into business opportunities. I'm a bit of an introvert, and normally the last thing I'd do is to strike up a conversation with a stranger. But after my talk with David, and reading his book, I said, OK, I'll test this out. Over a few days of skiing I went outside my own comfort zone and initiated conversations with strangers on the ski lift. Now, I never went so far as to actually ask for contact info – I was just taking some baby steps.  But I did end up having over a dozen fascinating discussions.  I met a woman who works as a ski instructor during the winter and during the spring and summer produces car commercials. Met the owner of a gas refinery, at attorney at Bank of America who works on credit derivatives, a woman in college who is studying to become a dentist and who plans to join the family's 110-year old dental practice – she was helping with bite wings when she was eight years old. I met a professional rock climber, a woman who runs a business that checks on Park City condos while the owners are out of town, and the sales manager for the Western U.S. for one of the two leading printing companies. I hope you find this discussion valuable, and I hope you'll test out David's suggestion and strike up a conversation with a stranger today. Visit David's website: http://www.topus.com/ David's book: https://smile.amazon.com/Talk-Strangers-Everyday-Encounters-Business/dp/111820347X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1521748374&sr=8-1&keywords=david+topus