Today’s guest came highly recommended by our former guest Stewart Rogers. Thank you Stewart!
Ian was such a delight to talk to. When we stopped recording, I even told Ian he was the one of the nicest men I’ve ever met… I told him it must be an Irish thing. You’ll see what I mean, though. Ian rushed home from teaching and skipped dinner with his wife to jump on our call. Hungry and tired, he still made time to shut up with Phil and me. That’s how laser-focused Ian is about being influential and giving back.
To go from knowing no one the first year he ever went to New Media Expo to having his blog win “Social Media Examiner Top 10 Blogs of 2013,” Ian can teach us a thing or two about being influential online and offline.
Share Some Shut Up Love –> Being rich is not what’s in my mind. What we’d love to do is give something back. – @IanCleary #shutupshow (click to tweet)
Fun Facts:
- Ian has nearly 20 years of experience in technology and start-ups
- Ian’s first experience at New Media Expo not knowing a single person led him to meet Michael Stelzner
- RazorSocial.com is a “Social Media Examiner Top 10 Blogs of 2013” Winner
- Ian lives in Ireland with his wife and three children and travels regularly to the U.S. for speaking and consulting
- Ian is starting a project to give back to charities as the business influence grows
Defining Shut Up Moment:
ON SIMPLIFYING AND DOWNSIZING: There was one situation in our life where we were in very highly paid IT jobs. We ended up buying a very expensive house with a very big mortgage and we had nice big cars and we weren’t particularly happy with where we were going. We had lots of money coming in but broke at the end of the month even with the big salaries. So we sold our house. Sold our property. We sold our cars. Rented for a while and then moved where our family lived and bought a smaller house. We were much happier.
ON BUSINESS GROWING PAINS: We’re at a stage where we’re growing our business. We have different revenue opportunities in different areas. Are we taking a right approach is one element of fear for us. For example, there is Razor Social and there’s Ian Cleary. I want both brands to be developed… I can’t sell Ian Cleary, but I can sell Razor Social. It’s a fear of “How are we developing the brands?”
Shut Up Tips:
As we connect and build relationships online, we need to be influential. – Ian
If you wanna talk about fear, I was once selling property in Bulgaria. One fear was “Are they going to deliver the apartment or not?” If they don’t deliver, you can’t get your money back.” – Ian
Someone asked me if I would give a presentation on social media. Then we ended up building a training company. My next stage was to then go to the U.S. because people there embraced social media. I told my wife I didn’t know what I was going to do in the U.S., but I was going. – Ian
The mix of technology and social media worked well for me. I think having a niche and an area no one owned, that’s what moved quickly for me. I work like a madman and rarely say no to anything. – Ian
We’re doing this call at 8 o’clock, I should be having dinner with my family. But I know you already. If I don’t think it’s a relevant audience or it’s not gonna build my profile, then I’m not gonna do it. – Ian
As our influence grows, we can generate money for our charities and projects. It’s good for business and for us as well. Being rich is not what’s in my mind. What we’d love to do is give something back. – Ian
I left corporate because we were at a relatively small start-up company that got acquired by a bigger company and that company got bought out by an even bigger company. We liked the pressure to deliver when we were a start-up but now we had to deal with corporate who only released things once a year. – Ian
Man cannot discover new oceans unless he has the courage to lose sight of the shore. – Andre Gide (via Ian)
You can be very comfortable in your own environment but you have to look beyond that, even with the element of fear and discomfort, in order to push yourself. – Ian
You gotta look forward and stay centered. – Phil
Ian Recommends:
See Ian LIVE at Social Media Marketing World in San Diego in March 2014
Find Ian:
Ian is the founder of RazorSocial.com
Tweet with Ian at @IanCleary or @RazorSocial
Get LinkedIn to Ian