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

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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.

Thank you, Jim. I appreciate you having me.

We're delighted to have you join us all the way over there. And you're the founder and CEO of Zulka Media, and we're going to talk about how entrepreneurs can punch above their weight through 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. So first of all, tell us a little bit about you because you set up multiple businesses. You sold one after 6 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.

Sure. Well, again, thanks for having me, Jim, and I've really been looking forward to this. So I spent my whole career really in the thought leadership space. I started out back in college as an intern at a book PR firm here in Austin, Texas, spent the first 7 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 a thought notoriety 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.

Yeah, great. I can see on the wall behind you, Rusty's got 2 books, Authority Marketing and also Mastering the New Media Landscape. And he's also spoken at South by Southwest. And has a host of information with it. So Rusty, books for most entrepreneurs, they seem just out of reach because even writing a blog post can seem kind of challenging. Are books really necessary for a business owner in order to establish their authority?

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 the 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? It's one bite at a time. It is a process. And, you know, 45,000 words for many of you is something that is 4 to 6 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.

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

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 whole 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.

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 trying to 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 you want to just share 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?

Sure. So the new book is called The Authority Advantage: Building Thought Leadership Focused on Impact, Not Ego. So the last 2 books have really been marketing focused, and what we felt like was needed with this new book was really more of a, 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 and the market perception is commodity has something to sell.

That is really interesting, Rusty. I love the 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 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?

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 scenes, 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 want to 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.

Rusty, I love that idea that you take what you were 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 going to give away my company secrets. And the second is, well, my internal PowerPoint to my sales team about what we're going to do next isn't really ready for external consumption. So first of all, how do you deal with the confidentiality question, Rusty Shelton?

Well, confidentiality question, my encouragement for leaders and entrepreneurs is the bigger question is not, is somebody going to steal my ideas? It's, is somebody going to 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 The 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 formatted 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 outta New York, wherever it might be. It's a, encouragement for people that are thinking about writing a book or creating content is create something that is not about you, but is a framework that somebody else can take and personalize.

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 should 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?

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, overdeliver 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've gotta 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 1 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 certain leaders that are listening to this, when they hear the phrase 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.

I love the way that you phrase 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 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 LinkedIn, founders should be, if you like, under their own name as opposed to say having their own company Twitter account. What's your guidance there?

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 taken 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, Mm-hmm. 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 online up 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 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's David Scott, and he recognized really early in his career that was a name he was never going to 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.

I love that idea because my name comes up with a bearded rock star, and I wouldn't mind having such a massive beard and such a great head of hair and having a rock star 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? You've shared about the message and not the messenger and about obscurity being a greater threat to confidentiality. I love those points. As an entrepreneur, what's worked for you?

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, 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 going to lean into that and I'm going to 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.

Rusty Shelton, 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?

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.

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.

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

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. Now I'd just like to mention our sponsor for this show. The Unnoticed Entrepreneur podcast is sponsored by a company called Prowly. Prowly is an all-in-one software for leveraging your public relations activities. You can boost the media relations game for your business, find media contacts, send out press releases, and get more coverage while saving time and money on everyday tasks. Check it out, prowly.com.