How Podcasting and Purpose Changed Ben Albert’s Life

Sponsored by Harford County Chamber of Commerce 

What happens when your world collapses and you're left with nothing but a bottle of whiskey and broken dreams? For Ben Albert, it became the turning point. In this energizing and heartfelt episode, Ben shares how he rose from being furloughed during the pandemic to creating Real Business Connections, launching a marketing agency, and building a thriving mastermind community. This is a must-listen for entrepreneurs, podcasters, and anyone seeking growth through connection and authenticity. 

Guest Bio:  

Ben Albert is the founder of Real Business Connections, a multi-format podcast and business development platform helping entrepreneurs grow through conversation and community. A former music promoter and marketing executive, Ben transformed his pandemic-era furlough into an opportunity, now running a successful marketing firm and hosting high-impact masterminds. He's also the creator of We All Grow Together, a collaborative business network. Ben is passionate about authentic storytelling, peer learning, and helping others amplify their voices. 

Main Topics: 

·         Ben’s journey from furlough and depression to entrepreneurship and podcasting

·         The evolution from Rochester Groove Cast to Real Business Connections

·         The difference between local and global podcasting reach

·         Tips for business owners considering podcast guesting or hosting

·         How to turn guests into advocates, not just clients

·         The power of using “nominations” vs. “referrals”

·         Why consistency and quality matter in podcasting

·         Gamifying communities with platforms like Skool

·         How masterminds create business momentum

·         Laughing through burnout and staying resilient in entrepreneurship 

Resources mentioned: 

·         Ben’s Website: https://realbusinessconnections.com/ 

·         Episode Sponsor: Harford County Chamber of Commerce

Harford County Chamber of Commerce
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Chapters

• 0:00 Celebrating 10 Years of Conversations with Rich Bennett
• 1:15 Introducing Ben Albert: From Rock Bottom to Podcast Growth
• 4:15 The COVID Furlough that Sparked a New Path
• 6:15 From Music Podcast to Business Influence
• 10:15 Local vs Global Podcast Strategy
• 13:15 Who Should Be Podcasting (and Who Shouldn’t)
• 17:15 Authors, Entrepreneurs, and the Power of Podcast Guesting
• 22:15 How Podcast Guests Become Advocates
• 30:15 Inside the We All Grow Together Mastermind
• 35:00 Using Skool to Build Engaged Communities
• 42:15 Best Marketing Tips for Podcasters
• 47:15 The Value of Panel Discussions
• 50:55 Why You Should Listen to Real Business Connections
• 53:15 The Power of Purpose in Podcasting
• 59:15 Laughter, Recovery, and Getting Through Burnout
• 1:05:15 Lessons from Regret and Subtracting the Bitterness

Transcript

Wendy & Rich 0:00
Hey everyone is Rich Bennett. Can you believe it? The show is turning 10 this year. I am so grateful for each and every one of you who've tuned in, shared an episode, or even joined the conversation over the years. You're the reason that this podcast has grown into what it is today. Together, we've shared laughs, tears, tears, and moments that truly matter. So I want to thank you for being part of this journey. Let's make the next 10 years even better. Coming to you from the Freedom Federal Credit Union Studios, Harford County Living presents Conversations with Rich Bennett. 

No no no no it's just truth is. 

Rich Bennett 1:00
So what do you do when the world shuts down? Your job disappears and you're staring at rock bottom with nothing but an empty bottle and a broken spirit. For Bennett Albert, that moment wasn't the end. It was the spark. It's what led his ass on fire. From being furloughed and feeling unworthy to building one of the most respected podcast out there and running a successful marketing firm, Ben turned to adversity into opportunity. He's the host of Real Business Connections, a champion for authentic conversations, and a marketing pro who's helped countless entrepreneurs find their voice and grow their brand. And in today's conversation, oh man, we're going to be talking about all kinds of stuff. His story, what he's doing now, the podcast, probably about why if you have a business, why aren't you on podcast? And a little bit of everything. So those of you watching, if you see him on some of the shorts that I post, no it is not Braun Strowman. The wrestler that lost a lot 

Ben Albert 2:12
I 

Rich Bennett 2:12
of weight. had first half as it go of bed. 

Ben Albert 2:18
Dude, I'm excited to be here. That introduction makes me sound like I am a superhero wrestler of some kind. So 

Rich Bennett 2:25
well, you could be. Why not? 

Ben Albert 2:26
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 2:27
Yeah. I mean how? There's nothing to say. You can't age. When people say, well, I'm too old or I look at, I don't know if you ever heard a Diamond Dallas page. Okay, who does the yogurt on that? And he started when he was 35. So yeah, nobody's ever told me how you got Ric Flair wrestlers last match at what 70 some? 

Ben Albert 2:52
Well, Ric Flair was a marketer in Diamond Dallas. 

Rich Bennett 2:55
Well, 

Ben Albert 2:55
I 

Rich Bennett 2:55
yeah. 

Ben Albert 2:55
think probably bench press five of me. 

Rich Bennett 3:02
So the funny thing is he just does the yogurt. He does it from what I know. He doesn't live weights. 

Ben Albert 3:08
Oh, I 

Rich Bennett 3:09
But the man is, I mean, he helped me a lot. Not him personally. I did, I was up the 300 pounds and I did his yoga. 

Ben Albert 3:17
know. 

Rich Bennett 3:17
And I lost 50 pounds doing it. It felt good to be able to see my toes again. 

Ben Albert 3:22
Congratulations. 

Rich Bennett 3:23
Yeah, amongst other things. 

Ben Albert 3:26
Okay, well, you look good. I don't know what you looked like, but you look. 

Rich Bennett 3:29
Oh, well, I lost a lot more now. I'm down down to 232. And so this year when I, because I play Santa professionally, I'm going to be a skinny ass Santa. So I got to find a fat suit. Yeah, I think you know, so I tell me about. So when you got furloughed, and I think walk us through that. 

Ben Albert 3:52
Yeah, I mean, I gotta pinch myself because this was 2020. It's been almost five years. COVID hit, COVID hit. And that was a shared trauma. Everybody went through something that they 

Rich Bennett 4:07
right. 

Ben Albert 4:08
That was struggle across the entire world. I just happened to let go. I had just started in my sales executive role for a corporation and agency. And I was the last one in first one out. I was only there for five months. COVID hit. And I get let go. And you know, you set it in the intro. My dad had a serious drinking problem. I was a party animal. I was in the music scene handing out flyers, going to bars, promoting bands before I even knew what marketing was. So I was always a music fan, but that led me to that party lifestyle. 

Rich Bennett 4:47
Right. 

Ben Albert 4:48
2020, I hit the pinnacle of my career. I was working in, you know, right in the middle of the city, twelfth floor, literally my building is in pictures of the city, great location. And now, in 30 days later, there's a pandemic. I'm broke. I'm unemployed. I really didn't have any savings. I was spending it all on my entertainment life. Um, and I did have skills. I had a music podcast at the time. I had a passion for marketing. I loved to grow, but I was a party animal, and I was non-essential. 

Rich Bennett 5:26
Wait a minute. What was the music podcast, but? 

Ben Albert 5:30
So I started a music podcast in 2016. It was called Rochester Groove Cast from 

Rich Bennett 5:37
Okay. 

Ben Albert 5:38
Rochester, New York, and I wanted to get into places for free. 

Rich Bennett 5:42
Right, 

Ben Albert 5:43
I heard that if you never want to work a day in your life, do something you love, it's good advice for like a 12 year old. It's not realistic. You got to do stuff you don't love, too. But I started a music podcast and I've never made a penny on it, but was able to get into places for free and talk to brilliant musicians and promote my local music scene. And I didn't know at the time all of that was preparation for that pandemic for low 

Rich Bennett 6:09
right. Uh-huh. 

Ben Albert 6:10
let go because I started a Rochester, New York, again, Rochester local business podcast during the pandemic. It's behind me. If you're watching the video, it's now called a real business connections, but I started Rochester business connections because I needed some. So it's funny how things happen for us, even if they look sloppy or there's not a bow on top. 

Rich Bennett 6:35
Yeah. I was the same way. When I started this 10 years ago, it was originally after my good news website, Hartford County living. All as I wanted to do is talk to different business owners, keeping it local and people in the county. And then I'm going to say how many years now, four years ago, I guess, a friend of mine for TV, told me to rebrand and get out of the local area and expand. Best advice that I've gotten for the podcast. And yeah, it just it blew up. But I still, the great thing I loved about that, I still got those connections locally, but like what we're doing right now, getting those connections throughout the world makes a huge difference as well. And you see it a lot of times, you see all the local business networks, and they focus strictly on that, you're just a local one, which is good, but you got to pick the minds of people everywhere too and make those connections because it's just going to help you improve. I was 

Ben Albert 7:49
for the self growth for the audience growth for the greater impact couldn't agree more, but I don't speak poorly about local anything. 

Rich Bennett 8:02
Oh, I love 

Ben Albert 8:03
I 

Rich Bennett 8:03
local. 

Ben Albert 8:03
went, I went through this when I rebranded from Rochester to real business connections and started having people from all over the place. 

Rich Bennett 8:11
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 8:11
I actually started to alien alienate my Rochester audience and networking exclusively with alienate because it was no longer a Rochester show. 

Rich Bennett 8:22
And right. 

Ben Albert 8:23
no longer I was just one pointed at five episodes a week. Then I went to three. I was networking with so many local business owners that had never been on podcasts. We had never met. We were showing up in our pajama pants because there's a pandemic even if we are a 

Rich Bennett 8:39
Yeah, 

Ben Albert 8:39
mile away. I was getting a lot of business through 

Rich Bennett 8:44
that. 

Ben Albert 8:44
And when I 

Rich Bennett 8:45
Okay. 

Ben Albert 8:45
rebranded to international, I actually hit a plateau for a time being, Because I was no longer the local podcast marketer connector. I was just some guy. I was a minnow in an ocean when, when I was local, at least I was in a smaller pond. Now, 

Rich Bennett 9:04
right? 

Ben Albert 9:04
to this day, I've grown exponentially, but I'm willing to believe that if I just stayed local, I probably would have grown exponentially just locally 

Rich Bennett 9:16
as well. Right. Well, and I still talk to the local ones. 

Ben Albert 9:20
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 9:20
There's, I mean, I, I love recording in person. I love recording virtually too, but the in person ones I save for when it's warmer out, mainly because winter time, well, in New York, 

Ben Albert 9:35
right? 

Rich Bennett 9:36
I'm in Maryland, so you know how the weather is here. It's very... I'm predictable, especially in a winter time. And the last thing you want to be doing is have a scheduled in-person recording, and there's a foot of snow on the ground. Actually take it back here, you get a dusting in everybody gives ape shit. 

We're doing coal weather training up there in the Marine Corps, man, that's- 

Ben Albert 10:09
Mm-hmm. Deep. Deep. 

Rich Bennett 10:11
But 

Ben Albert 10:12
Thick, it's fluffy, and 

Rich Bennett 10:14
yeah. 

Ben Albert 10:14
it's great for a snowball fight. 

Rich Bennett 10:16
Now with your podcast, you're still talking to local businesses though, right? 

Ben Albert 10:21
Yeah, so I have a Rochester segment. It's no longer 

Rich Bennett 10:24
Okay. 

Ben Albert 10:24
three to five episodes a week, but I'll put out at least five to ten local episodes each year still. 

Rich Bennett 10:31
Okay, and now you get people local wise contacting you? 

Ben Albert 10:38
Yeah, nowadays it's mostly referral, and just 

Rich Bennett 10:43
Right. 

Ben Albert 10:43
people getting nominated for the show, like, I'm- 

Rich Bennett 10:48
I'm an aide. 

Ben Albert 10:49
I just like the word nomination. 

Rich Bennett 10:51
Oh, okay. I like that, though. 

Ben Albert 10:55
Can I do a super small micro lesson? 

Rich Bennett 10:58
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 10:59
A lot of people don't like the word referral. It's transactional, like referring business. Nomination is a level up, but has a similar meaning as referral. Who doesn't want to nominate someone for a program, for an opportunity? Nominate them to jump on a call and possibly sign up for this program or nominate them for the podcast. Who doesn't want to nominate a friend, and even better than that? Who doesn't want to be nominated? 

Rich Bennett 11:30
I like 

Ben Albert 11:31
Someone 

Rich Bennett 11:31
that. 

Ben Albert 11:31
says, hey, I have a couple of referrals for businesses that want to sell their services on your podcast. I'm like, but if I hear, hey, I want to nominate someone for a show that I think could add value to your audience. It's still a similar meaning, but it's just way, way nicer with a big old bow on top. 

Rich Bennett 11:47
Yeah, because you think of award shows. 

Ben Albert 11:50
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 11:50
Different awards. People love to be nominated for those. 

Ben Albert 11:53
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 11:54
Damn, thanks, Ben. That's one tip I am definitely gonna use now. 

Ben Albert 11:58
Nominate. 

Rich Bennett 11:59
I like- 

Ben Albert 12:00
You can ask me. I can ask you, for example. You could- after this show, you can go, "Hey, Ben, is there anyone you'd like to nominate?" For the show, and there's a high probability. I know a lot of people all the 

Rich Bennett 12:11
Right, 

Ben Albert 12:11
way around. I could be as a podcaster. Do you know any other hosts that you think you could nominate me to be a guest? So, again, 

Rich Bennett 12:18
right. 

Ben Albert 12:18
it's just- it's- it's a small, linguistic change, but 

Rich Bennett 12:24
yeah, 

Ben Albert 12:24
it works. 

Rich Bennett 12:25
I love that. I love that idea. That's brilliant. Actually, with- because, I mean, you and I connected through pod match, so we see different business owners on there from everywhere. They're doing it. They're getting out there and guesting on podcast. Do you find, especially in your area, even though you can tell people to your- blue in the face, how important it is business owners to get on a podcast, that some of them just either don't believe that, or- I don't want to say they're afraid to, just don't believe it or they, you know, the classic line they don't have time. 

Ben Albert 13:10
Yeah. Well, I don't know the question- what's the question? 

Rich Bennett 13:14
They're quite- do you- 

Ben Albert 13:15
I don't think- I don't think everyone should get on a podcast. 

Rich Bennett 13:18
I- who should it get on a podcast? Well, 

Ben Albert 13:21
Lots. 

Rich Bennett 13:21
besides people that don't know how to talk. 

Ben Albert 13:23
And, in- in the question was like telling him- I- I won't tell anybody anything until I'm blue in the face. If I'm talking to a wall, it's a waste of my- I'm- I'm looking at a blue wall, so apparently, 

Rich Bennett 13:34
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 13:34
I've made the wall blue in the face with all my rambling over the time. But, let- I'm- 

Rich Bennett 13:39
[laughter] 

Ben Albert 13:39
it. Let me give you a simple example, and I actually think they might be a fantastic fit for a podcast, but they're a better fit elsewhere. Big smile, life of the party, energy, great eye contact, they're the kind of person that enters a room and people are gravitated towards 

Rich Bennett 13:57
They 

Ben Albert 13:58
them. They 

Rich Bennett 13:58
own 

Ben Albert 13:58
make quick introductions. That person, go to a chamber of then, go to conferences, go and take that big, beautiful energy, and meet as many people as possible. And in a lot of cases, boom, like that is an incredible way to talk about your business, get to know people, build 

Rich Bennett 14:18
audience. 

Ben Albert 14:18
an 

Rich Bennett 14:19
Right. 

Ben Albert 14:19
Sure, there's other things like have a podcast, have social media, have a YouTube account. Depends on what they do in their skill set, but that person might not need to go on podcast to accomplish the same goals as the person going on a podcast. I am very introverted in a big crowd and I can talk to someone all day if it's an interesting conversation. Generally, I'm at that networking event. I generally know a few people and I go five to 10 layers deep with those people and that's one of my skill sets building a strong relationship with less rather than impressing all. But that works in the podcast space because you and I get to have a one to one conversation, not a lot of clinking, not a lot of drinking. 

environment is different than the environment of the big, bold energy that can run a networking event. So I think the true thing that I would talk to on blue in the face is getting the right environment that allows your skill sets come into play. And if you want to be a speaker, if you want to be good at sales, if you want to become a compelling communicator, podcasting is a brilliant way to get very sharp on those skill sets, but I'm not going to tell anyone it's the only way, but it is 

Rich Bennett 15:38
My 

Ben Albert 15:39
a darn darn darn good one. 

Rich Bennett 15:41
Oh no, definitely not the only way in there. There are people that yeah, podcast wouldn't make sense. But I do feel like there are a lot of different types of businesses out there where they could just reach more people 

Ben Albert 15:58
Right. 

Rich Bennett 15:59
by, you know, getting on a podcast, especially something like yours or other business podcast or even mine to well, I mean, I've had it happen to where businesses come on. And talking about their business, even though they're local. They're reaching people in other states, countries or whatever, you never know where people are going to move from. Somebody can move into that area and there'll be like and it's happened with me, hey, we heard about so and so on Ben's podcast and we need that. But I don't remember the name of the company, I remember Ben's podcast and they can do it that way. But there are a lot of interesting businesses and owners that I've seen just locally here. And even well, not just well, even authors and author that is a business. 

But for some reason, they just, I don't know, I offer to them and then some of them will say yeah, they're interested in that. As far as it goes, nowhere else But a lot of them do come on. And they do see a difference or here. 

Ben Albert 17:12
yet. 

Rich Bennett 17:13
See a difference here. 

Ben Albert 17:14
I mean, if you're an author, if you're an author and yourself promoting and you want to sell more books and maybe 

Rich Bennett 17:20
Yeah, 

Ben Albert 17:21
consulting gigs or even better get speaking gigs where you do a reading and a presentation, you want to get on more podcasts. There is, there is probably two out of 10. I might even be conservative with that number two out of 10 authors that they just don't know how to speak. And that's okay because they're brilliant writer. They jump on a podcast and it's like rich, stick to, stick to writing. But in most cases, it's an incredible promotional tool. If you have a book and you want to get that message out to more people, because what's wild but true, not everyone's going to reach your book. But they will listen to you on a podcast, get the message and change their lives. 

Rich Bennett 18:06
Yeah, actually with because you've been podcasting for a while as well, is there any time or times where you've had a guest on and no matter what you just cannot get anything out of them, it's like short. Yes and no answers, even if you're asking open and to questions. 

Ben Albert 18:34
Sure. 

Could I get, could I not get anything out of them? The answers, I've been able to get something out of every guest. There 

Rich Bennett 18:44
Right. 

Ben Albert 18:44
are some people that it is far more difficult 

Rich Bennett 18:48
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 18:48
and then you have two options as a host. You just take over the show and just become the entertainer and you did a radio for quite some time you just lead the show. Or you find ways to make that guest as good as possible, even if you're struggling to get something out of them. And 

Rich Bennett 19:06
Right. 

Ben Albert 19:06
I don't want to get too detailed, because I don't want to put anyone on blast and it actually was a pretty decent show, but this guy loves fishing. He loves wilderness and I couldn't get him to talk, but then the moment we got into exactly what fly fishing was. And like what kind of boots do I need to wear and like is what's the difference between being on the ground and being in the water and what. And I didn't know what I was talking about, so I was at a 101 level. 

Rich Bennett 19:37
Uh-huh. 

Ben Albert 19:38
he just sat there and taught me for the next 20 minutes. So it wasn't that he didn't have anything to say, it was just finding the talking point that could bring the best out of him. So that's always my goal as a host, or honestly as a guest 

Rich Bennett 19:53
Right. 

Ben Albert 19:53
as well, to bring the best out of the other person, but you're not wrong. Some people are more difficult than other. 

Rich Bennett 20:02
Oh yeah. I mean, granted, I think it's only happened. One, it has. It's only happened one time with me. And now, I was his first podcast he's ever been on. But, and I think, I think I know why, I think he was scared because I had two women as co-hosts and we did it in person. And I think he may have felt intimidated. 

Ben Albert 20:27
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 20:28
Because when we were done and the two women left, then I shit you not, man. I could not get the guy to shut up. 

Ben Albert 20:35
No. 

Rich Bennett 20:35
Oh, he just kept on talking and talking. I'm like, where the hell were you? 

Ben Albert 20:40
It sounds like he had 

Rich Bennett 20:41
Oh, 

Ben Albert 20:41
a-

Rich Bennett 20:41
I'll go. 

Ben Albert 20:42
It sounds like he had a crush on's. 

Rich Bennett 20:44
I think so. (laughs) I think so, 'cause he was between both and the women. So, yeah, I mean, he, 

Ben Albert 20:50
Just, he's trying to play a cool. He's trying to play a cool. 

Rich Bennett 20:54
Yeah, yeah. It was kind of funny in a way. But, I mean, I mean, that's probably out of all the episodes I've done. That's one that I wasn't able to release. And there was another one I, well another one I wasn't able to release when it happened during COVID. I had just gotten my mixing board and never did anything virtual. So, I had the lady call in, plugged her cell phone or plugged my cell phone into the mixing board. But you know how cell phones work? And it kept fading in and out. So, I couldn't post that one. And then the other one, which was an excellent conversation. I mean, I thought it was great. And then I just, it was weird. I got an email from her like a week later, insisting that I do not post it. 

Okay. Yeah, that's all I'm gonna say about that. It was strange. Actually with your, because you're still doing marketing, right? The marketing business. 

Ben Albert 22:01
100%.

Rich Bennett 22:01
So how, so how many of your guests have actually turned into clients? 

Ben Albert 22:08
Never counted. That's actually a good metric to be able to answer that question easily with. What makes it slightly difficult to answer that question is I have a mastermind, then I have a marketing firm, then I have a podcast agency. So the mastermind numerous members have been on the show. 

10 to 20, probably be out 10 to 20. And here's the thing and it's a good metric to have, I appreciate you asking that. What I, I'm thinking, literally verbally processing, I can see the tree. 

Maybe 10 to 20 became a client who was a guest. 

Rich Bennett 22:55
Okay. 

Ben Albert 22:55
You can multiply that by two to three when you're referring to people that were nominated from a guest. 

So 

Rich Bennett 23:03
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 23:04
a guest comes on, I'm never pitching my guest. That's never my, that's not why it's, sure it is a good business development tool, but I'm not there to pitch my guest. 

Rich Bennett 23:13
Right. 

Ben Albert 23:14
It's generally the person that my guest introduces me to that 

Rich Bennett 23:19
Mm-hmm. 

Ben Albert 23:19
becomes my client. Because let's go back to the local example or any niche, I just happen to do Rochester, New York local, but any niche, if you become known in that space, I'm having on Rochester business owners. Rochester business owners, no other business 

Rich Bennett 23:36
owner. 

Ben Albert 23:36
So do they become my client? Sure, some of the websites, local designs, we did social media gather, those 

Rich Bennett 23:42
of. 

Ben Albert 23:42
kind 

Rich Bennett 23:42
Right. 

Ben Albert 23:43
But more often than not, they became my advocate, not my client. 

Rich Bennett 23:48
Yes. 

Ben Albert 23:49
And that's the bigger win. That's why my brain started to circulate because you know a handful have became clients, but far more, We're just friends of friends. And it's just, 

Rich Bennett 24:00
yeah. 

Ben Albert 24:01
it's amazing where the podcast can take 

Rich Bennett 24:03
us. 

But and the other way around that, how many of your clients have actually, before they, I mean, if, they were reprises, how many of your clients ended up being on your podcast, but after they were already clients? 

Ben Albert 24:22
A handful. 

Rich Bennett 24:23
Okay. 

Ben Albert 24:24
I don't ask me numbers. I 

Rich Bennett 24:26
watching. 

Ben Albert 24:26
was 

Rich Bennett 24:27
(laughing)

I said yeah, a handful's good answer. 

Ben Albert 24:31
(laughing)

So I have a personal trainer. He showed me this podcast called Financial Audit. And basically, it's these people that are like entrepreneurial and they're just terrible with money. He's a financial advisor, and he's kind of there to help them, really 

Rich Bennett 24:46
...right. 

Ben Albert 24:46
just he. 'Yells at them, and it makes fun of them the whole time. It's, 

Rich Bennett 24:49
hard. He's degraded 

Ben Albert 24:49
it's very 

Rich Bennett 24:50
Ramsey'. 

Ben Albert 24:51
He's very hard to listen to. And I listen to it comedically, but it was hard to listen to. And I was telling you, like, I've had a bad couple days, and I think part of it is last night I was thinking to myself, if I was on his podcast, he would just tear me apart. You don't know what your subscription services are. You don't know what your annual growth revenue is. You don't know what your baking... You 

Rich Bennett 25:14
(laughs) 

Ben Albert 25:14
don't know how many clients you have, you, and I have ball parks, but like... 

Rich Bennett 25:19
Right. 

Ben Albert 25:19
Dang, don't ask me numbers. It exposed me. 

Rich Bennett 25:24
(laughs) But I'm glad you brought that up though, because when it comes to podcasts, and that's something you hear all the time, people ask you, "Yo, well, how many listeners do you have? How many... 

Ben Albert 25:39
How many... Who's my guest? 

Rich Bennett 25:40
Kicking those! 

Ben Albert 25:41
I mean, I can tell you my average monthly listeners, but it depends 

Rich Bennett 25:44
Right. 

Ben Albert 25:44
on the guest, it depends on the title, 

Rich Bennett 25:47
the 

Ben Albert 25:47
YouTube, 

Rich Bennett 25:48
platform. 

Ben Albert 25:48
Yep. 

Rich Bennett 25:49
I mean, there's as of now, there's really no tool that can really tell you true count of listeners 

Ben Albert 26:01
that you have. No. 

Rich Bennett 26:02
I mean, and I want to say even radio, they really can't, because... And this is an argument I always got into when I was doing sales in radio, because he said, "Well, no, they can tell the Q members, who's listening, all that crap." Okay, well, if you have a van full of people, it's still only there's one listener, and there could be 10 people in that van. And the same thing, it's true of podcasts as well. 

Ben Albert 26:30
Hmm. 

Rich Bennett 26:30
So you really, you really can't tell. And go ahead, you're going to say something. 

Ben Albert 26:36
Well, complicates it even more is, let's say, someone watches a YouTube video for 30 seconds, listen to your podcast for 30 seconds. Sometimes you can auto download and they end up being listened, but you get credit for the download, because they're player auto downloads. You got credit for that 30 Someone also might have watched one of the reels that I posted on Instagram for 45 seconds. The 30 second podcast listener and the 45 second reel is actually the same amount of time listening to the podcast, but they go 

Rich Bennett 27:08
seconds. 

Ben Albert 27:08
into 

Rich Bennett 27:09
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 27:09
different metrics. What I want more than anything, more than just the quantity is just the retention of time. 

Rich Bennett 27:18
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 27:18
Because the true listeners there for 80% or more of the show are ideally 100% of it because yeah, you take the YouTube reels, you take the graphics, you take the podcasts, you take the YouTube, you take that, they're spotifying Apple and then 500 to other different podcast apps. 

Rich Bennett 27:34
Hmm. 

Ben Albert 27:34
And it's hard to track, but what I really look for more than anything is just engaging the audience. That's more important than any vanity number because are they one second listen or a one hour listen? That's, that's a big difference. 

Rich Bennett 27:49
That's one of the things I do love is when your guest or not your guest, your listeners reach out to you 

Ben Albert 27:55
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 27:55
and thank you for an episode that they heard and they learn from it. That's when you know you're really doing something right. You know, and it just, it feels so good. I think that's probably the biggest reward that you can really get get out of it. 

Ben Albert 28:12
Yeah. So, so assuming not everyone makes it to the absolute and I want to tell the listener today to just go reach out to Rich right now. Hey, I'm listening to the podcast. Leave the five star review right now. You've got plenty of time to do it while you listen. Don't pull over the car, get in an accident. Make sure you check, check the stop signs if you're running. Don't pull out your phone. But if you can pull out your phone and leave a review right now. Do that right now. And Rich, we just got like a thousand people reach out to us right in this moment. That was pretty cool. 

Rich Bennett 28:46
And while you're at, it also go to realbusinessconnections.com or yeah, realbusinessconnections.com, right? 

Ben Albert 28:53
Yeah, that's a website. 

Rich Bennett 28:55
Yeah, but they could, they can catch your podcast from there, right? 

Ben Albert 28:58
It's wrestler does 

Rich Bennett 29:00
that. 

I never, I should have never brought up the bronister. It'd be even funnier if you get a call from him. It's 

Ben Albert 29:15
you're 

Rich Bennett 29:15
like, 

Ben Albert 29:15
using my name, image and likeness. 

Rich Bennett 29:17
uh huh. Yeah. I'm coming up to New York. So we're going to meet in the ring. 

Ben Albert 29:23
That's 

Rich Bennett 29:23
Run band line. God. 

Ben Albert 29:27
He's probably a foot taller than me. So I think my best move would just be to smack him in the balls or something. I 

Rich Bennett 29:33
know. 

Ben Albert 29:33
don't 

Rich Bennett 29:34
Oh, there's a guy from here. I'll never forget this. His name's James Ellsworth. He's, I don't even know. He maybe I'm guessing here. And James, if I get it wrong, I apologize. He might be five. 10? Maybe, maybe 180 pounds. 

Ben Albert 29:56
ok, 

Rich Bennett 29:56
But he went, he went up against the sky-brown strome in the ring. He was what you, at that time called a jobber. He, it was his time, and he said, "As long as I got two hands, I'm ready to fight." That's what James said. But I tell you one thing, holy shit. The, the way strome and hit him, you could feel 

Ben Albert 30:19
it. Ah, 

Rich Bennett 30:21
And I, man, I know he had to be hurt. When you see the red on the chest, 

Ben Albert 30:26
sure. 

Rich Bennett 30:27
you know it had to hurt. It definitely had to hurt. You mentioned Masterminds. 

Ben Albert 30:34
Yes, sir. 

Rich Bennett 30:36
Which is something that I think every, hear if people have, you know, joined networking groups. But you don't hear a lot about Mastermind group. How long have you been doing the Mastermind group and when did that start? 

Ben Albert 30:50
About a year and a half. 

Rich Bennett 30:52
Ok. 

Ben Albert 30:52
So, so this is for everyone who's listening. We just launched a new community that's for everyone, not just Mastermind members. 

Rich Bennett 31:03
Ok. 

Ben Albert 31:03
It's, it's at we all grow together.com. We all grow together.com. So, grogators only started as networking events. We started networking events. We would raise money for charities, bring in speakers, primarily virtual networking events. And I started that with my co-host, Andrew Bearnatt, gosh, three and a half, three years ago. 

Rich Bennett 31:30
Really? 

Ben Albert 31:31
About a year and a half ago. It was like, it was the, the best feedback all time and everybody would love themselves and people would say, Hey, Ben, really should be charging for this. And I would say, you know, Rich, I don't plan on charging for this. I want to just do this to give back to the people that want to grow together and they'd say, Well, I want to do more of this. I want something more specialized. So, we launched the Mastermind, which now I'm calling the grogators only inner circle. 

Rich Bennett 32:00
you 

Ben Albert 32:01
Specifically for those people that want that deeper dive, that weekly accountability. We bring in mentors that do ask me anything. Chris Vleets a great example. He's got the number 

Rich Bennett 32:14
one. Awesome. 

Ben Albert 32:14
Number one, a wrestling podcast in the 

Rich Bennett 32:17
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 32:17
world. He didn't ask me anything for the inner circle. So, 

Rich Bennett 32:22
huh? 

Ben Albert 32:22
That's an example. Yeah, it's been kick ass. We could, we could talk about this all day, but we all grow together just launched and it's meant to be a catch off for the world. So we have a monthly networking event. Then we have a Mastermind that meets weekly. It's called the inner circle and then we all grow together.com is that discussion forum, Where there's, you know, AI linked in marketing, 

Rich Bennett 32:47
right? 

Ben Albert 32:47
podcasting, there's different forums and threads and then it hosts the event calendar for all of it. So this has been a long time coming, but it's a little bit of all of it. It's free virtual events. It's a virtual community and then a inner circle as well. And that's the gist of we all grow together.com. 

Rich Bennett 33:08
And that's that's hosted on school. 

Ben Albert 33:11
Yes, 

Rich Bennett 33:11
am I looking at that? I, I, 

Ben Albert 33:13
correct. 

Rich Bennett 33:15
You're listening to conversations with Rich Bennett. We'll be right back. 

I want to take a moment to tell you about the Hartford County Chamber of Commerce. As proud member, I can tell you firsthand that being part of the chamber feels like being part of a family. They've got your back, whether you're a small business owner or leading a larger enterprise. I've experienced firsthand the genuine connections and unwavering support that chamber offers to local businesses joining the chamber isn't just about business growth. It's about being part of a community that thrives on helping each other succeed. They offer incredible resources, networking opportunities and events that truly bring us together. Strengthening not just our businesses, but our bonds within the community. So whether you are a startup or a seasoned business, the Hartford County Chamber of Commerce welcomes you with open arms, become a member today and experience this supportive community firsthand. Trust me, it's like becoming part of a new family ready to help you flourish. Visit HartfordChamber. org. Again, it's HartfordChamber. org to learn more. The Hartford County Chamber of Commerce, where business meets community. A lot of people don't know about school. S-K-O-O-L. It's 

Ben Albert 34:45
fantastic. 

Rich Bennett 34:45
That's what I've heard. I mean, I'm a member of it, but I haven't created anything on it yet. 

Ben Albert 34:52
Yeah, so school darn, I forget the number, but I think I pay $89 a month, $99 a month, something like that. So as a host of a school community, it's one flat fee period. You can have two members, you can have 200,000 members. So from a scalability standpoint, it's fantastic you're paying for access to the software. So if you want to build a community, it's great for a scalability standpoint. From a 

Rich Bennett 35:21
Right. 

Ben Albert 35:21
user standpoint, it's just set up to be fun. It's gamified where there's leader boards, there's a weekly, a monthly, and an annual leader board. If you get enough points, you level up. If you want to gamify your system, you can basically as a school owner have certain trainings or certain events. You're required to be at a certain level to get access to. For 

Rich Bennett 35:48
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 35:49
example, you might have a free training, but you need to get to level five to access the training. So it gets people to engage because every time you get a comment on your post or like on your post, you get a point. So it's taking community, it's gamifying it. It makes it fun, discussion forum. It's like a Facebook group or those kind of things, a LinkedIn group, but just that much better. 

Rich Bennett 36:13
And 

Ben Albert 36:14
then as a host, you get to post your courses there. You can post trainings, all my mastermind replays are there, but you'll see it when you go to we all grow together. 

Rich Bennett 36:26
I'm there. 

Ben Albert 36:28
I think it auto accepted you. You won't have access to the paid items. It'll say, sign up or unlock at level nine. So it's a 

Rich Bennett 36:39
Right. 

Ben Albert 36:40
way for me to integrate my free community with my paid community. So all these entrepreneurs and leaders can grow together no matter what tear they're on in the process. 

Rich Bennett 36:52
And who are some of the people you got in this besides Chris? 

Ben Albert 36:56
As the gas mentors. 

Rich Bennett 36:59
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 37:00
I mean, I can name drop. I don't know who we know and don't know, but Mark Schafer is one of the most prolific writers on marketing, content, marketing, community building. Jordan Harbinger is one of the biggest podcasters. 

Rich Bennett 37:14
Oh 

Ben Albert 37:15
Right. 

Rich Bennett 37:15
yeah. 

Ben Albert 37:16
Yeah. Cal Fussman's coming in next month. So he'll be in there soon. He was best friends with Larry King. He's interviewed everyone from Oprah to Gorgachav to. 

Rich Bennett 37:30
Oh wow. 

Ben Albert 37:30
The one you can think of working for Esquire magazine. He co-wrote Larry King's book. He's gonna be in there. Jimmy Soney wrote the book on PayPal. Just lots of smart entrepreneurs. And yeah, man. It's 

Rich Bennett 37:46
fine. This. So this is something that basically I would say any entrepreneur should definitely be a part of. 

Ben Albert 37:53
Yeah. And we all grow together.com. This is starting to sound like an infomercial. You're not 

Rich Bennett 37:58
but 

Ben Albert 37:58
you're not going to gain access to those replays unless you join the inner circle. So there's the greater community. And then there's the inner circle mastermind. 

Rich Bennett 38:08
Right. 

Ben Albert 38:09
But and this is again, this is an infomercial accidentally. I charge a dollar for 30 days. So people 

Rich Bennett 38:16
to 

Ben Albert 38:16
can go in. Yeah. And then the price goes up. But they can come in, meet everyone, watch the replays and then just say, so long. Farewell or they can stay in if they think it's a good fit. 

Rich Bennett 38:29
I was gonna say, but with the the people that you just mentioned. 

Ben Albert 38:33
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 38:33
It would be well worth it anyway. 

Ben Albert 38:36
It's 

Rich Bennett 38:36
I mean, you think about it. You go to a symposium seminar, whatever you want to call it, where you see these speakers on stage. 

Ben Albert 38:47
Mm-hmm. 

Rich Bennett 38:48
They're going to pay an arm in the leg to 

Ben Albert 38:51
correct. 

Rich Bennett 38:51
That's what it's going to be going. You're not going to, you know, you're not going to see it anymore because it was in person. 

Ben Albert 38:58
And you know what's going to happen, Rich? You're going to see them. when you're in a community where there's only 20 some attendees and it's an AMA that's 60 minutes long, that's about 10 to 15 people that get to ask a question in that 60 minutes. So you don't just see someone you're actually getting to bring your issues and problems to the table. Yeah, that's enough about that as a mastermind in general is meant to give that kind of support. 

Rich Bennett 39:29
Right. 

Ben Albert 39:29
So it's peer to peer support. There's networking, there's workshops and I think any good mastermind brings in guest mentors to educate the group because I'm there as like the leader, but I'm a servant leader. It's about the peer to peer. I bring in people smarter than me to do those AMAs and that that's the power of that kind of format and 

Rich Bennett 39:52
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 39:52
I'm a huge advocate that kind of. It has nothing to do with me. If someone's not in a peer support group, a mastermind of some kind, they're missing a good opportunity there. 

Rich Bennett 40:04
Absolutely. We're actually going to be doing a round table. 

Ben Albert 40:10
I 

Rich Bennett 40:10
All in brainstorming in a mastermind group 

Ben Albert 40:13
love it. 

Rich Bennett 40:14
because it just blows me away how many, you don't see a lot of, at least where I'm at, you don't see a lot of mastermind groups. You see a lot of networking groups, but you don't see a lot of mastermind groups and which is I've been teasing one that I'm going to be 

Ben Albert 40:32
em. 

Rich Bennett 40:34
Next month, and 

Ben Albert 40:35
tell me, I'd love to hear about it as soon as you can tell me, you know? 

Rich Bennett 40:39
I'm going to be sending you an invite brother. 

Ben Albert 40:41
Cool. 

Rich Bennett 40:42
It's called the uplift collective and it's me and actually one of my sponsors, actually two of my sponsors. We've been talking about doing this and it's basically so and it'll be a limited amount of people because we want to limit the meetings to one hour once a month, virtually. 

Ben Albert 41:01
Okay, 

Rich Bennett 41:02
so each person for a couple of minutes will tell their struggles they've had for the past month and then their wins. And then when everything's, and then we brainstorm how we can help those struggles, how you can make them wins, even 

Ben Albert 41:17
winnier. Winnier. 

Rich Bennett 41:18
Is that a word? Yeah, it's a word. I just said it. 

Ben Albert 41:20
Make them greater. 

Rich Bennett 41:22
Yeah. Thank you. Thank you because when you get different minds from, especially from different types of businesses, holy shit. Man, it just increases. You know, when you said it already, you're behind this, but you're you're bringing in the people that know more about it or know more about things than you do. And that's how you learn. Yeah, I think it was Henry Fortle said that, you know, he may not know how to do something. That's why he brings in the people that he surrounds himself with that knows how to do it. And that's how you that's how you become successful. I've got to ask you because if you're marketing background, and now I want to get into the podcasting part here, with your marketing background and your podcasting, and you see, podcasters always struggle with this. For those people that are listening that our podcasters are going to get into podcasting, what have you found for your podcast to be the best type marketing so far. 

Ben Albert 42:27
Oh, that's such a big question. The best type 

Rich Bennett 42:32
All right. 

Ben Albert 42:32
of marketing or your 

Rich Bennett 42:32
Some 

Ben Albert 42:33
pod. 

Rich Bennett 42:33
of the best types. 

Ben Albert 42:34
Well, that's so so this isn't the answer people want ever when I talk about marketing, but the best marketing is a good product. I'd rather have the greatest product on earth. Let's just say, for example, I have kale that tastes like chocolate pudding. I have I have broccoli that tastes like PB and J. That product is going to market itself. 

Rich Bennett 43:02
Well, yeah. 

Ben Albert 43:03
Two people, all I need is two people, and we'll get to two million quickly because I have something that is unbreakably good. Now, most of us don't have that. I don't 

Rich Bennett 43:15
have. 

Ben Albert 43:16
Most of us kind of have commodities. And what I mean by that is there's just a ton of competition. A lot of people are vanilla. A lot of it's hard to stand out sometimes. So I say, primarily, I'd rather have the best product than the best marketing in the world, because I think the best marketing is a good product. What does this mean in this example? Make your podcast actually worth listening to. Make your guests allow your guests to have an incredible experience, because your guests could become an advocate. They could become a client, a mentor, a friend. So create a good process for booking them. host a great interview. Do good follow up. Create amazing follow up materials, social materials. Get the best editor you can. Now, none of this is required to start in podcasting. I don't want to overwhelm anyone. All that's required is clicking record and being the best God darn host you can and then doing great follow up. You don't need a million dollar editor overnight. You just need 

Rich Bennett 44:23
Right. 

Ben Albert 44:23
to show up and do the best you can with the tools you've got. But the better tools you have, the better you do, the better the podcast experiences, the better you connect with your listener, the easier it is to pitch a sponsor, the easier it is to turn a client into an affiliate partner. An easier it is to pitch your own product on your podcast and get people to say yes because they trust you as a host. So I think we can talk about social media. We can talk about ads. We can talk about getting Apple reviews. But the most important thing and this is the musician, the creative in me coming out. The most important thing is creating a good product for the people consuming it. Everything else is in addition to amplifying that great experience you create. 

Rich Bennett 45:16
What about consistency? 

Ben Albert 45:18
That's huge, I don't think it's required. It's a lot of answers I can give you either of them. 

Rich Bennett 45:30
So 

Ben Albert 45:30
I consistently put stuff out. But I used to do five episodes a week and I overwhelmed the listener. Then I did three. Now I'm doing one and an episode came out late. It came out Wednesday instead of Monday. And if I lost subscribers, I don't think I did. If people are complaining that I'm two days late, that's actually a good sign that they're 

Rich Bennett 45:51
Uh-huh. 

Ben Albert 45:51
engaged. But it's hard to build an audience if you can't match their expectations at all. So if you're putting out an episode once every six months, you're consistently doing one every six months, but your frequency isn't high enough. So I think this is actually where I froze up for a second. I think you can choose your frequency once a week, once a month, at minimum once every other week. But consistency, I agree with you. If you promise your audience, you're going to do something, you got to do it. And that's part of creating a great solution. And I hope the non-podcasters hear this and take it to heart with not even just their business. Maybe they work for a company. If you work for a company, if you have a business, regardless, you do the best job possible. You go to bed knowing my hands got dirty and I did all I could in my power to deliver what results I could for the people that needed them. And if you do that every single day, you will either create or help create a good product or service that stands the test of time. And the marketer in b's board of marketing because the greatest marketing is a long-term brand. It's trust. And you can't do that if you put out crap. Rant over. 

Rich Bennett 47:18
Something you do on your podcast, which I guess in a way is, but not really similar, but you have panel discussions. 

Ben Albert 47:29
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 47:30
Whereas we do the round, round tables, which is, I guess you can say it's a little bit different. Explain to people about these panel discussions that you have. Because I know it's not every episode. And what you guys really cover on it, because I think that's, I love it. That's a great idea. I love listening to panel discussions and even round tables because you're getting like that mastermind group all over again. You're getting different inputs from everybody. 

Ben Albert 48:00
Yeah. I'll break it down to three major benefits. The first major benefit is I know a little bit about a lot of things. But I can't go 10 layers deep on AI. I can't go 10 layers deep in HR. I haven't worked in that compliance world. I can go 10 layers deep on marketing. But you want here is that no aspects of marketing. You don't. So when I have an AI discussion, a marketing, an HR, a leadership discussion, I am the dumbest person in the room. At least I play that role. And then I'll have two to three panelists that will actually feed ideas off each other. And it just makes for a higher level. It's more like an advanced conversation where I'm pulling my hair out trying to track them because they're smarter than me. That's just what it is. So the big benefit there is you just... The whole group gets more advanced and brilliant in that process. The other big benefit, this is a quick and easy one, I get to connect people live in real time. I want to make the introduction anyways. Let's make the introduction together, click record and everyone's like, 'Wow, I love that panel and then they become friends afterwards'. The third big benefit is let's say I give, I put out an episode and I give it to Rich and I know Rich will promote it, but let's just use a Zach and Stud, Zach, Zach who doesn't like to promote. So Zach doesn't promote crap and it's still a good episode, not the end of the world, but what happens when I have three podcast guests, maybe one of them is a Zach and two of them Rick, maybe three of them 

Rich Bennett 49:45
is a Rick. Right. 

Ben Albert 49:46
I'm not convinced the panelists' discussions are my quote, unquote best episodes. I like the deep dive 1 to 1's. there's some of the most popular episodes because four people promote it rather than 1 to 2. So you have the benefit audience growth, connecting people and better overall advance conversations or the three main reasons panels are good in my opinion. And I think some of the self-deprecation is as a host, they're actually difficult. I'm still 

Rich Bennett 50:20
But 

Ben Albert 50:21
learning how to make them as good as possible. 

Rich Bennett 50:24
Learning never stops. 

Ben Albert 50:25
Oh dude, I 

Rich Bennett 50:26
I'm 

Ben Albert 50:26
know. 

Rich Bennett 50:27
still learning stuff all the time. All the time. And I'm old. Alright, tell people why they should listen to real business 

Ben Albert 50:40
connections. I hate something. You want me to be off? 

Rich Bennett 50:43
Yeah, dude, I want you to. Hey, look, I've listened to it. I fell in love with it. And I know that a lot of my listeners out there, if they'll, once they listen to your podcast, they're gonna continue listening as well. 

Ben Albert 50:58
And 

Rich Bennett 50:58
especially the business, you know, the entrepreneurs. 

Ben Albert 51:01
I didn't do that on purpose, but you just did what I prefer. Why listen to my podcast? Because Rich loves it. Why listen? Cause there's people like Chris VanVleet, the biggest wrestling podcast in the world, has been on twice. Jordan Harbinger has been on the twice. Halla Taha, who's got one of the biggest entrepreneurship podcasts has been a guest on the show. Why listen to my podcast? I don't know because my guest kick ass and the audience love it. I, one thing I hate about marketing in sales is when someone, I love conviction. I 

Rich Bennett 51:37
Right. 

Ben Albert 51:37
know it's a great podcast, but I'm not here to just shove it down someone's throat and sell it to them. I think that the guests and the reviews speak for themselves. 

Rich Bennett 51:48
Oh 

Ben Albert 51:48
And 

Rich Bennett 51:48
yeah. 

Ben Albert 51:48
that's what I always lean on. That's why you're like, pitchman, tell them why they should listen. I don't know. Maybe they shouldn't listen. Maybe they want to learn how to go do, um, chalk or 

Rich Bennett 51:58
needle point or something, 

Ben Albert 51:59
If, 

Rich Bennett 52:00
right? 

Ben Albert 52:00
if they want to do chalk art, I'm not the podcast for you. If they want to do wild water fly fishing, I'm not the podcast for you. If they want to make more money and more connections, I might be the, but I don't know. Maybe check it out. You tell me. Who am I to judge? 

Rich Bennett 52:20
God. Before we started recording, you and I were talking, and you mentioned about how you know, some people entrepreneurs, after a while, they get tired of what they're doing. And then they turn around and they sell their business. 

Ben Albert 52:38
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 52:39
Yeah. Um, and you've been podcasting for was it five years now? No, wait a 

Ben Albert 52:45
So 

Rich Bennett 52:45
minute. 

Ben Albert 52:45
I started the music show in 2016. I started the business show in the pandemic, so 2020, 

Rich Bennett 52:52
2020. But the fact is you're still podcasting. 

Ben Albert 52:55
Correct. 

Rich Bennett 52:57
Do you think, did you think back then that you would ever be doing this? 

Ben Albert 53:02
No. 

Rich Bennett 53:04
How much do you really love doing this? 

Ben Albert 53:06
Sometimes I wonder how I'm still alive, Rich. 

Rich Bennett 53:10
I wonder that too, but it's not because of the podcast, because of the stupid shit I've 

Ben Albert 53:16
done. Oh, exactly. And I tell that joke that like there's great advice I can never say anything negative about it. Begin. 

Rich Bennett 53:26
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 53:27
Begin with the end in mind. I have not, I have not done that. But I have began with what's right in of me. 

Rich Bennett 53:37
Hmm. 

Ben Albert 53:38
I didn't think I'd be a podcaster. There was no Joe Rogan on my wall. Never thought it'd be an entrepreneur. There was no bezos or brain a brown 

Rich Bennett 53:47
or. Right. 

Ben Albert 53:48
Tony Robbins on my wall. I just did what was right in front of me and it led me here and I'm grateful for it. But I got a pinch myself because we didn't go down a dark depressing talk which we could have but you mentioned like 2020 broke drinking problem. I've got demons and if it wasn't for these kinds of conversations, I might let the demons take hold of me but I don't allow them to because entrepreneurship, podcasting, connecting with brilliant people is really what gets me up in the morning. It gets me optimistic about a great future and who knows where I'm going and who knows how I got here. Sometimes I'm just a feather and the wind and we'll see where it takes me. 

Rich Bennett 54:34
Keep going brother. Don't ever freaking stop because the shit you're doing is kicking ass. And I love it. And the big thing is people are learning from you. 

Ben Albert 54:47
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 54:49
And I want to thank you for that because I'm learning from it and the people that you have on hell it's like it's like going back to school in a way. Which, 

Ben Albert 55:00
you know what's funny? 

Rich Bennett 55:02
No, let me guess. I look like one of your old teachers. 

Ben Albert 55:06
No, no. It's this happened accidentally but the grogators only brand is like a chalkboard green with hand written text. So when we decided to use S. K. O. O. L. which is school spelled incorrectly as our 

Rich Bennett 55:22
right 

Ben Albert 55:23
form. We're like the greatest brand to be on school because it's chalkboard text where on school dot com. And it's basically school for grownups at like one one hundred thousandth of the price. 

Rich Bennett 55:38
Yeah. What is the guy? I forget. God. The guy's name is going into my head that started school. Ben. No. 

Ben Albert 55:49
I could look it up. So Alex Hermosi 

Rich Bennett 55:51
bought 

Ben Albert 55:52
bought he 

Rich Bennett 55:53
that's what I'm thinking of. 

Ben Albert 55:54
So Alex Hermosi created the school games, which was like a marketing promotional thing they did. I think he bought equity. It might be fifty fifty, but he's a he's a partner. Sam Great. It'll come to me. He didn't found school, but now he's one of the leading partners. He's a big part of why school blew up. 

Rich Bennett 56:15
I've been hearing so many people lately, even especially guests that I've had on that are using school. And what's the other one? Sub stack? But 

Ben Albert 56:25
Sam ovens was the original founder. Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 56:30
Okay. But it seems like everybody I've talked to that is using school loves it. 

Ben Albert 56:37
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 56:37
And some that I've heard some people leave sub stack. But I heard of anybody leaving school. That's just it. I'm sorry. After saying that, that just sounded so weird. I never heard of anybody leaving school. to leave. I used to they haven't 

Ben Albert 56:53
I 

Rich Bennett 56:53
graduated 

Ben Albert 56:53
used 

Rich Bennett 56:53
yet. 

Ben Albert 56:54
I used to leave school to go to subway. 

Subway? 

Rich Bennett 57:01
why I used to leave school to go up into the woods and never mind. Then why do you guys mean why do you have to go there, man? 

Ben Albert 57:08
That's 

Rich Bennett 57:08
That's 

Ben Albert 57:09
why I needed the subway. 

Rich Bennett 57:11
I 

Ben Albert 57:11
needed the subway. Does the case they didn't get a bite to eat? 

Rich Bennett 57:14
Oh, man, God, I'm now going to have flashbacks about school. I mean, old school, not school. The note man, you know, this is getting too damn confused and it's hurting my head. Anyways, 

Ben Albert 57:29
if anyone, so far it's a free group, but so far 

Rich Bennett 57:33
yeah, 

Ben Albert 57:33
not a single person has left it. If someone does leave, they call it churned. If they do leave, I'm going to have to send them a message. Did I give you flashbacks? Did I give you flashbacks? 

Rich Bennett 57:47
Yeah. 

Holy shit, man. Wow, holy cow. 

Ben Albert 57:57
I didn't, I didn't know this was a comedy podcast. 

Rich Bennett 58:01
Hey, let me, you know what, here's the funny thing. No pun intended. But I mean, because we have a lot of serious conversations, we I talked to a lot of people in recovery, 

Ben Albert 58:11
sure. 

Rich Bennett 58:12
And there's times where of course they've got crying, not from laughter, but because there's stories. 

Ben Albert 58:18
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 58:19
But there's sometimes that we're just rolling and laughing so damn hard. And I keep saying that I'm going to do some episodes like outtakes. 

Ben Albert 58:33
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 58:33
Especially when we started the ones, the ones of my one co-hosts because she kept messing up but I, yeah Wendy I'm talking about you and I, I still got those old recordings. I talk about a lot of editing then but oh, yeah it's, 

you gotta laugh. Let me tell you so, 'cause when you first came on you were talking about how you, you been down this week and everything. 

Ben Albert 59:03
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 59:04
But laughing, how, how you feeling now? 

Ben Albert 59:06
Real good. 

Rich Bennett 59:08
There you go. 

Ben Albert 59:08
Well, 

Rich Bennett 59:09
See? 

Ben Albert 59:09
what I said, and I'll say it for the listener is I literally, the short version is I listen to a financial podcast where he basically just spits on people's face the whole time and makes fun of them for some time. I had to be in bad with finances. That's a part of why I brought that up today. Um, and I had a rough quarter and I was thinking about my life because I had a rough quarter. So I pull out my phone and I go to Google and I search how many years into entrepreneurship to people get burnt out. 

And I said, the whole thing, one to two years you get really excited, two to three years, you're still a little excited but like the, the fact you have to scale. The amount of work kind of catches up. And then four years, like a lot of people start to get burnt out and then five years people either quit or sell. And I don't plan on quitting or selling 

Rich Bennett 1:00:04
good. 

Ben Albert 1:00:04
Have zero. And, and I'm doing okay financially. Things are going incredible. They have grown substantially. But we talk about staring at a bottle of Jim be whiskey. We talk about googling things. Am I burnt out? Am I gonna be okay? We all have those moments. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:23
Yeah. 

Ben Albert 1:00:24
And I'm extending this to tell a story. But you said it laughter is one of the greatest anecdotes. It's one of the greatest medicines when you have moments like that. I'm going to a comedy show tonight. You think tomorrow I'm going to wake up and be complaining about what I googled. I'll be laughing. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:45
And wait a minute, who are you going to see? 

Ben Albert 1:00:47
I don't know. 

Rich Bennett 1:00:51
Some comedian. 

Ben Albert 1:00:53
So the two sentence version is in Rochester, New York. We have an incredible comedy club called comedy at the Carlson. There's a big stage and a little stage. A friend of mine's friend from college is performing. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:07
Okay. 

Ben Albert 1:01:08
So we're going to see kind of a no name, but it'll probably fill up the room like 50 to 100 people. And I forget his name, but it's comedy like as long as he makes me laugh. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:21
Never know. It could be the next Robin Williams, man. 

Ben Albert 1:01:24
Yes. I got to check his arms first. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:31
You 

Ben Albert 1:01:33
ever see his arms? 

His arms have more big foot, man. His arms have more hair than me and you on the top of our head combined. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:45
Oh, man. Oh God. 

Ben Albert 1:01:49
Big foot. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:50
Yeah. Big foot was hairy. 

Ben Albert 1:01:52
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:01:55
Oh shit. Ben, before I get to my last question, is there anything you would like to add? 

Ben Albert 1:02:06
Oh man. We already said it midway through these conversations wouldn't happen. I'm trying to I'm trying to promote you for a second rich. 

Rich Bennett 1:02:16
I'm sorry. I'm sorry. 

Ben Albert 1:02:17
They 

Rich Bennett 1:02:18
can have very 

Ben Albert 1:02:19
sorry. 

So these conversations wouldn't happen without our host. So I wanted to thank you rich and the best way. Like wherever you're listening or watching, if it's YouTube, you hit thumbs up and leave a comment. If it's Apple, you hit five stars and leave a review, but Spotify, you hit five stars. Maybe you leave a comment or a review, do whatever you can to support because we didn't talk about this much and it's one of the reasons that you probably shouldn't get into podcasting sometimes is it's a lot of work. It is a lot of work and it's not beyond me. And I hope it's not beyond the listener. How much you put into this. So show some love for rich and that's my that's my parting words my friend. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:05
Well, well, thank you brother. I appreciate that. And those of you listening, make sure you go check out, you know, Ben's podcast as well, real business connections because trust me, you are going to learn from it. And those of you that are entrepreneurs make sure you go at go check out his 

Ben Albert 1:03:26
know 

Rich Bennett 1:03:26
the 

Ben Albert 1:03:27
we 

Rich Bennett 1:03:27
school. 

Ben Albert 1:03:28
always 

Rich Bennett 1:03:28
We we all grow together. 

Ben Albert 1:03:30
Yes, so we all grow together dot 

Rich Bennett 1:03:33
com dot com. 

Ben Albert 1:03:34
and if you click on courses, there's actually a section for the podcast where we highlight our most popular episodes. So I'd encourage people to do that. Just go to weallgrowdegether.com, you'll find the podcast there and you'll surround yourself with cool people. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:51
So, all right, so Ben, my last question for you. 

Ben Albert 1:03:54
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:54
I haven't asked this one in a while. 

Ben Albert 1:03:56
Uh-oh. 

Rich Bennett 1:03:56
Unless you want me, unless want me to ask one of the questions that some of my guests submit, it's up to you. 

Ben Albert 1:04:02
They submit it to you? 

Rich Bennett 1:04:04
yeah. My guests will, uh, not my guests, my listeners will, will send questions for me to ask 

Ben Albert 1:04:11
Oh, 

Rich Bennett 1:04:12
different guests that come on. 

Ben Albert 1:04:13
Yeah. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:14
Some of them are out there. 

Ben Albert 1:04:15
Okay. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:17
most of the ones are really out there are the ones from my son, but 

Ben Albert 1:04:20
Well, 

Rich Bennett 1:04:20
no, they're sending some good questions. Well, 

Ben Albert 1:04:24
you set the bar high without there. So ask me a question that I didn't expect to get asked. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:29
Oh, God, you would have to. Okay. 

Ben Albert 1:04:31
You, one of my favorite rich, one of my favorite closing questions is that and I say it in different ways. But for example, my buddy Brian, I had him on the podcast, and I said, Ashley, his wife, if Ashley had a podcast, what would she ask you that I would have never thought of asking you? Those questions are fun. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:52
They, wow. Hmm. And you know what, then I'm going to ask you the question that 

Ben Albert 1:04:57
No. 

Rich Bennett 1:04:57
I started asking some people. 

Ben Albert 1:04:59
Okay. Let's do it. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:01
Uh, and this can get deep. This can get deep. And I found I never thought about this because 

I've always given the same answer when somebody asked me that. And then we taught mentioned wrestling earlier. And I was watching this interview with a wrestler and they asked him about regrets. Yeah. And what's the normal thing when somebody says, do you have any regrets? No regrets, right? That's the normal answer that most people get. And this wrestler said, anybody that says that hasn't 

Ben Albert 1:05:35
learned. Sure. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:36
Because you, you should learn from your regrets. 

Ben Albert 1:05:40
Huh. 

Rich Bennett 1:05:40
So my question to you is, what is one regret that you actually have learned from? 

Ben Albert 1:05:49
So we talk about the imagery of an empty bottle of Ben Jimmy and whiskey. Uh, when you put in in a bio or in a story, it sounds like a single moment in time. You can multiply that moment in time by hundreds, hundreds of bottles. And I'm not saying anything wrong with people that drink. I still will drink a little bit for recreational, but whoo. I mean, opening that bag of worms, there's thousands of regrets, 

Rich Bennett 1:06:21
right? 

Ben Albert 1:06:22
From the things you said to the actions you didn't take to the damage I did on my body, to the people that I had relationships with that were bad for me or I was bad for. A lot of people talk about self growth and self love and kind of like me time. And they think I got to meditate more. I got to exercise more or I got to get more massages or go out with the girls. I got to get my nails done more. It's usually not adding that we need to do. This is what I've found. It's actually subtraction. There's things in our life that make us better and things that make us better. It's the better stuff that I like to take, you can even do an exercise or it all the stuff that make you better or it all the stuff that make you better. And you're like, how do I have the time to be better. I'm busy. You just get rid of the bitter stuff because I was so darn optimized. But you can optimize all day. If you're doing things that make you better, it's going to hurt you. So I appreciate you allowing me to reflect there, but it's not like I chugged a bottle, looked at it and just became Superman. It was a lot of sad moments that led me to that level of clarity that I had lots of good habits, but lots of bad ones. And it wasn't adding good ones. It wasn't self-love. It wasn't self-care that I needed. It was actually getting rid of the stuff that was causing the good stuff to not work if that makes sense. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:02
It makes perfect sense. It makes perfect sense. I did the same thing and it's amazing how I'll turn your life around. Ben, I want to thank you brother. The door is always open anytime you want to come back. And if you ever make it down to Maryland, Hit me up 

Ben Albert 1:08:20
not 

Rich Bennett 1:08:21
and we'll 

Ben Albert 1:08:21
far. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:21
go get some on now. We'll go get some really true, good steamed crabs. 

Ben Albert 1:08:28
Now you see right by the water. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:30
see. Oh, I'll fry it on the chest. Big bay, 

Ben Albert 1:08:32
All right, let's 

Rich Bennett 1:08:33
baby. 

Ben Albert 1:08:34
Um, tomorrow's Friday. You're free. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:40
Ben, thanks a lot, man. 

Ben Albert 1:08:42
Thanks for having me, who was fun. 

Rich Bennett 1:08:44
Thank you for listening to the conversations with Rich Bennett. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and learned something from it as I did. If you'd like to hear more conversations like this, be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode. And if you have a moment, I'd love it if you could leave a review. It helps us reach more listeners and share more incredible stories. Don't forget to connect with us on social media or visit our website at conversationswithrich Bennett.com for updates, giveaways, and more. Until next time, take care, be kind, and keep the conversations going. You know, it takes a lot to put a podcast together. and And my sponsors help add a lot, but I also have some supporters that actually help me when it comes to the editing software, the hosting, and so forth. There's a lot that goes into putting this together. So I want to thank them. And if you can please, please visit their websites, visit their businesses, support them however you can. So please visit the following. Real-life Real life prosthetics, cutting edge solutions, restoring ability since 2001. Go to reallifeprostetics.com. Full circle boards. Nobody does charcuterie like full circle boards. Visit them at fullcircleboards.com. Sincerely, so your photography. Live in the moment, they'll capture it. Visit them at sincerelysoyer.com.