The Staffing Shark on How to Build a Social Media Brand that Sells Itself
With Guest Richard Rosner, the Staffing Shark
Let’s be honest — most people sleep on the importance of their online presence. Whether you’re a recruiter, sales pro, or business leader, how you show up online isn’t about chasing likes or sending 100 DMs — it’s about standing out and building credibility that makes people want to work with you.
If you’re in staffing and on LinkedIn, chances are you’ve seen his name, his energy, and his no-BS positivity in your feed. We’re talking about Richard Rosner — host of The Staffing Shark podcast. In this episode, we sit down with Richard to unpack how he built a personal brand that attracts business and opportunities without hard selling. He’s got the receipts, and today he’s sharing how you can get there too.
Casey Wagonfield: Let’s talk real quick about something most people overlook: your online presence. Whether you’re a recruiter, a sales pro, or a business leader, the way you show up on social media matters. Not just for clicks or likes, but for credibility. Today’s guest is someone who’s absolutely nailed this. He’s built a brand that’s bold, funny, recognizable, and trusted, and he has used it to open doors, build relationships, and grow his business without ever sounding like a pushy salesperson. So if you’ve ever wondered how to stand out in a crowded staffing world, this one’s for you.
Casey Wagonfield: Hey everyone. Welcome back to another episode of Staffing Made Simple, the show where we make the world of staffing a little less corporate, a lot more real, and give you some insights and strategies that are actionable. I’m Casey, joined by my partner in crime, Rob Geist, Senior Vice President at SimpleVMS.
In today’s episode we’ve been excited about for a while, we’ve got a guy who’s not just built a staffing brand, but he is the brand. The man, the myth, the Staffing Shark, Mr. Richard Rosner is in the building. If you’ve ever been anywhere near LinkedIn or you’re in the staffing industry, you’ve probably seen his energy, his humor, his positivity show up in your feed.
He hosts his own podcast, the Staffing Shark, crushes it in recruiting, is building a personal brand that actually drives business. And today we’re talking about how he did it and how you can too.
What’s going on Richard?
Richard Rosner: Glad to be here, man.
I’m excited and I can’t wait to deep dive into this.
Rob Geist: So Richard, we know each other well. We get to spend time with each other at different conferences.
So it’s actually weird for me to call you Richard. I just call you Shark. That’s just the brand that you’ve built. But, can you tell us how the Staffing Shark came to life?
Richard Rosner: Oh yeah. How long do you have? Okay, so about five, five years ago. You know what I decided? I wanted to build a brand for myself.
I was going to conferences, people was getting to know me, and I’m like, I just want something cool. So I’m sitting, can’t lie about this. I was at Myrtle Beach. I’m sitting there and I’m thinking, first one that came to my mind was “Rip Tide Recruiter”. I’m thinking, nah. So I drank a couple Land Sharks, sitting on the beach there and after a couple beers, which I don’t drink much, I seen a white cap.
And I’m thinking to myself. Is that a shark? And I said, “Staffing Shark”. There we go. I love the beach, bring a beach vibe. And then I decided to flip it and said, you know what? I’ll bring a Kenny Chesney vibe, Jimmy Buffett vibe, and wear flip flops, jeans, shark necklace, and bring that beach attitude to the hiring industry.
Casey Wagonfield: You’ve got what merchandise, you’ve got the Staffing Shark logo, but I think you’ve, more than anything, you’ve built trust. ‘Cause people know who you are. They know you’re the Staffing Shark. You’ve built that online identity.
Rob Geist: How long did it take for the brand to take off from inception to you really seeing some real results?
Richard Rosner: Well, you know what’s funny is actually the first five months of being the Shark, everybody was like, at the conferences were like, “Hold on, he has jeans on, no sport jacket. What’s going on?” And then before you know it, it just took off. I would say six months.
I spoke the following year, probably to 11 conferences, and I’d never reached out to ’em. It was just like that shark mania, and they’re like, “can you do social media? Can you do social media?” So it kind of took off like that, and they all knew me for the last eight years, how much energy I had. But with this brand and this name, and as you know everybody calls me a shark, nobody calls me my real name anymore.
I go and I break bread with people in conferences like, “what is your last name? I just call you the Shark.” So at that point I was like, okay, we’re on point. So I would say about six months. And since then, I have fun with it. And I think that’s the biggest thing, Rob, that we’re gonna talk about today and Casey is, you have to have fun in what you do.
I live my brand, and staffing and recruiting’s a lifestyle, and when you treat it that way things will come to you big time.
Rob Geist: Well, for me, Richard, the thing about you is you’re authentic. You’re just you. And it’s not some fake persona that you put on. And we talk about that together quite a bit, how just being yourself gets you a long way in the sales process.
When people look you up and they find you online and then they actually talk to you, they realize this guy’s real person. So, tell us a little bit about your authenticity and how that works for you.
Richard Rosner: I talk about it all the time. My brand is me 24/ 7. I love life. I wanna make everybody shine. That’s my big slogan. I say, you know what, if I can make everybody shine, that’s great. So I think anywhere I go, I just wanna bring that positive energy. It’s for sales appointments, I mean, it’s for anything. It’s that big influencer brand that I’m doing right now to helping, companies grow.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah. When you talk about building an online presence and having a brand, people think of that as oh, I don’t have a personal brand that’s for influencers, but I think, anybody can go online and build a brand.
What does that mean to you, building a personal brand and how could people, start that?
Richard Rosner: So here’s what’s, I think sometimes the people, they miss fire on what they do. A personal brand is having other people build that brand for you. The community builds my brand. I didn’t build my brand at all.
I just put it out. There was me, and guess what? It took off from there. So I think the biggest thing is don’t follow anybody else. Just build what you like, and your hobbies, and you’re fun. As you see on LinkedIn now, people’s putting stuff out, pictures at their dogs or baseball, their kids. Build what you like. People will come to that.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah. One of my best posts this year is me in a Buccee’s onesie.
Richard Rosner: There you go. See that.
Casey Wagonfield: Uh, so, you know, I know you post on all the different social media platforms and you’re big on that, right?
Like spreading it out. Don’t just put all your eggs in one basket. You’re really heavy on LinkedIn, but what’s your approach on some of the other ones – on Instagram, TikTok, when it comes to brand building?
What I tell everybody, and I joke about this, I dunno if I can say this or not, but if you’re only on LinkedIn, you’re losing out, you have to have about three or four. I’m on nine of them because I’m hyperactive. I can bounce back and forth and I use definitely a lot of, AI for all that stuff. But right now Instagram stories is booming. I like Facebook groups for businesses. You tap into that, you like some of their comments.
I think one of the big ones now is Blue Sky. Nobody’s on Blue Sky right now, so if you guys get out there. Blue Sky’s been around probably for a year. It opened up to the public about six months ago, and you guys will love this if you type in staffing on Blue Sky. I pop up everywhere. There’s only about 20 of us on there, staffing and recruiting.
So it’s all you and I grew 5,000 followers in like two months. And it’s not even about the followers and likes anymore. It’s about the conversations, guys. You know? Seriously, I say this all the time, it’s great to have a comment. I want that dm, I want that direct message so they can reach out to me and we can have that campfire chat and that. I call it the beer chat, the coffee chat.
That’s what I’m looking for.
Yeah, and I think building your brand, just makes those reach outs a little bit warmer, right? Because you’ve built a little bit of trust, you’ve built some credibility. What would you say, when it comes to social selling and selling online, what’s your method of reaching out to people?
When you connect with somebody on LinkedIn, do you follow ’em, like their posts, comment on ’em before you go in for a meeting? Ask or what’s your approach there?
Richard Rosner: Okay, so here we go. So, social selling’s the big buzzword these days, which I did it like five years ago. So, I have another word. “Improv selling” – gotta be comical, gotta have valuetainment. I always say that value with entertainment, that humor. So I realized, I was like, “dude”. I am doing improv selling, really not social selling.
Social selling is the big hub. But if you’re an improv, you’re engaging your audience because they want to hear your jokes and stuff like that, and then you pivot. So if I could say anything, improv selling is the way to go. It’s a great terminology everybody can use these days. I think social selling is about being in a community.
Something else, i’m big in the NIL now. I sponsor an athlete here in WVU. I sponsor a musician too. So, can you imagine that? Every time that person plays my exposure’s out there. So that’s part of the social selling is bringing your community and let them sell for you.
Rob Geist: Yeah, Richard, for you and for everyone really social selling, so much more than just showing up to pitch.
And the best salespeople I know personally, sales is literally their lifestyle. But I think when you make it your lifestyle like that, you do all those little things beforehand, like post on social media, and people start to see you out there.
You become more trusted and you’re part of your community. Can you talk a little bit about that?
Richard Rosner: So the community’s a big thing for me. When I came to West Virginia here, I actually helped out a staffing firm. And in one year, I’ll just say it, 38 clients in one year I landed for them, 37 on the phone.
So it was that coffee chat, beer chat. I think the biggest thing with me is when I go in, I’m not selling you anything. I’m doing a discovery call. I wanna discover who you are. And who I am. And then you know what? And then I go into hype, I call it. And I’m gonna laugh about this, but it’s all about the fomo.
No bragging. It’s about swag. And I think when you have that, then you go to the purchase stage. And then, you go to the next one would be the community stage. That’s your sales process right there.
So I think the big thing in the community is; I put coasters everywhere, I drink land shark beer. I joke about it. I even have QR codes on the back of my shirts when I go to the gym. At Planet Fitness, scan the shark if you wanna get hired.
So I’m a walking billboard 24/7, and I think that’s what we have to be. Even on the social media platforms like Facebook, anybody that gets hired by me is usually my Facebook friend. And if I could tell you anything, Rob. The quickest thing and the best thing that I’ve ever done, and I say this over and over, everybody hears this is the Shark shake.
Anybody that gets hired by me, client, or candidate, I take a picture with them. They share it on their social platform. Before you know it, I have this funnel of candidates and clients coming to me so I don’t have to worry about the chase anymore. They’re chasing me down and they’re like, I wanna work with you because they know I’m genuine and I’m gonna call ’em back.
Casey Wagonfield: I love that you wear a QR code to the gym and you know, people are scanning it because they’re curious where it takes ’em.
Richard Rosner: I think one of the things about social selling is video, if we can even elaborate about that real quick, is video has been around for, I would say five or six years.
TikTok has changed the way LinkedIn is now. LinkedIn has brand links now where you can actually put your company out there. And, like a Gary V. It’s coming out in the next month where he’s gonna be having big presentations and stuff like that. And you could put your company right in front of that before he talks.
As you can see right now, LinkedIn is all video. Video is getting 80% more than just a post, blogs are boring. Nobody reads anymore. And you guys probably agree with that. Nobody reads. And anything goes these days people wanna learn from you, but they also wanna be curious too.
And I’ll say this real quick guys, is when I was at the staffing sales conference, they kind of like had a little roast with me. And they’re like, shark, what do you actually do? Do you find people do you help companies out? Are you a podcaster? And that’s that curiosity that I wanna keep forever.
I help everybody out is what I say in the staffing industry. So, that curiosity of what he actually does. I wanna keep that going, because that’s why people keep coming in to look up my stuff and they’re curious of what I do. And once they get in, the rest is history.
Rob Geist: It’s funny because, I see you on LinkedIn and I see you’re not just throwing stuff at the wall. You’re engaging and, you actually make me engage with LinkedIn posts more because you’re so active on social media and I wanna be part of it.
So I’ll click, I’ll comment, which is really helping my brand and you don’t even realize it. So I wanted to give you that little kind of credit.
Richard Rosner: Hey, anything I can do for you, man.
Rob Geist: I know brother, but you make people feel seen and you make them wanna engage and I love that.
Talk to us a little bit about that, if you don’t mind.
Richard Rosner: I think the one thing that we have to say, it’s not about us. It’s not about me, it’s about them. And I think that’s the big thing is, and I say this slogan all the time, I’m here to make everybody shine.
So you wanna bring your community together. And I gotta tell you, Rob and Casey, you don’t have to start your own group. Everybody has a group. I’m gonna tell you a little story real quick. You’ll love this. So I’m flying to Vegas last week for that conference.
I’m at the Charlotte Airport. Give a plug out. I love Charlotte. It’s, that’s my airport drink. Eat my Bojangles. Sit in my rocking chair. I take a picture in my favorite rocking chair playing behind me. I tag Charlotte Airport on it. Guess what? It’s on Instagram, Facebook. They liked it. They shared it on their platform.
There you go. There’s 45,000 people. They have cnat. I had seven contacts to me just about, “Hey, would you wanna be on my podcast or something else?” Quick, it was a quick picture. While most people were like chasing stuff on LinkedIn, all I did was have fun and sit in a rocking chair and see how I drummed up business that way, or a buzz.
That’s what you can do. It’s, it’s not all about talking about staffing all the time. I think if you just talk about, having fun, enjoying yourself with your tagline, that’s the key. Have your tagline in it, and have your face and everything. But yeah, it’s about just having fun. So you see how that went viral? And then I have people reaching out to me from Charlotte now in that area.
Casey Wagonfield: Staying on the subject of social selling. ‘Cause I know it’s very popular right now. It is the way to sell. But I think some people hear social selling and they think, all right, cool. I’m just gonna send a hundred direct messages today. And that’s not it.
Richard Rosner: Not at all here’s my theory. I’m just saying, 25 companies – you focus on them. You see where their pain points are, you see where their needs are, and then you go after them. Once you close one, you add another one. I don’t need a hundred clients. That 25 keeps going, going, going. That’s how I got the 38. It was just 25 at a time, and keep knocking ’em down.
And I think the big thing about social selling is you gotta make it, I’m gonna say this word again, “valuetainment”. You gotta make humor in it. You gotta have fun with it. But I think to get into the client, you gotta be different. And the way I get in is just setting up video out of myself, of being quirky. I mean, WVU stuff even. I went to Penn State. I wear, I support West Virginia down here, so, it’s game day.
I’m gonna send stuff out on a Saturday with some videos. It says, say go WVU. Another big thing I’m gonna say with social selling is quizzes. Get them involved like March Madness. I had a basketball game online that you can just send. You click it out, you send an email and you shoot some hoops and you can win a gift card.
I think that’s what we have to do. We have to give. And then at the end, you know, you’ll get everything in return.
Casey Wagonfield: And I think, social selling is more about sending a DM right? On social media, it’s about showing up before the pitch. People trust you, relate to you. You built that credibility. You have an a presence online. I started in staffing. I mean, there’s a lot of companies that didn’t have websites.
They’re going off your word and your handshake. Now they can just look you up and find everything out about you that they want. And I would love to hear your thoughts on this. If I’m going to connect with somebody on LinkedIn. Typically I wanna connect with them and I’m gonna like and comment on some of their posts first before I go in for, and ask for a meeting. Just to show them that I’m involved. I’m a resource for them. What’s your thoughts on that?
Richard Rosner: I love what you said there. So here’s my take on it. Another word I always say, ’cause I love these little short words. Everybody thinks about social selling. How about inter selling? They have to be interested in what you have, right? And you have to be interested in what they have.
I’m gonna tell you, most of my appointments I open up with we’re just talking for five minutes or six minutes about anything. Football, sports and stuff like that. That’s how you build that relationship. So go on their profile and check out stuff. If they’re in NASCAR or whatever.
I tell people all the time, building a relationship, just talking about your products back and forth. I’m not gonna lie, it’s kind of boring, right? I mean, we wanna talk about our interests, if we like certain kinds of foods or whatever. So I think social selling is about being social, says it right there, right?
So find an interest that they have. You have in common connect. And after you connect then you go to the next level. “Hey, maybe we can do business together.” But that could be in a third or fourth email or phone call. You don’t have to rush off the bat. I’ve done this before, I’ve studied this where I won’t even say anything about doing a service with them.
And they’re like, “how do I get a contract?” And then guess what? It goes to the next one. Next one. So you want them to almost chase you a little bit. Is that kind of wow, people don’t think that way. We always chase the sell.
How about have the seller chase us?
Rob Geist: That’s crazy. Yeah. That’s something most salespeople probably never think about.
Richard Rosner: No, not at all. All people wanna do is to sit down and talk to you. And I think that’s where we have had disconnect, guys. You know what I mean? With the clients, we’re scared for them to say no. You know how many times I’ve got my door shut on me and it’s like, “Shark, I’m not working with you ever.”
And then six months later, It’s your turn. Time for you to shine. I always say you never lose an opportunity.
You never get rejected. You just get redirected to the next level.
Rob Geist: I love it. It’s just keep hearing no’s until you say yes. Richard, you’ve built humor into the Staffing Shark brand and it shows people that you’re real.
What advice do you have to incorporate humor into your brand? Is there too much, is it a balance? Can you talk about that, and how humor is part of your brand, and your storytelling?
Richard Rosner: I think I call you back to improv selling. You gotta read the room.
You gotta read the room and see what it’s like. If you got a room and it’s real quiet, you’re in a boardroom and you’re trying to close a deal and it’s quiet, you gotta light it up.
I think the big thing is, the three L’s. You gotta, you gotta listen, learn, and lead. The three L’s. I always say you listen first, you learn from ’em and then you lead, and if you can do that, you could just rock this out. And I’ll tell you a story real quick.
This is a great one. So when people call me, these are like from a welder to a CEO guys, and they’re like, “Shark, you got another bite?” They never even talked to me before. And they’re saying Shark in the voicemail.
‘Cause people watch my social media and this is something I can tell people, even though they don’t like your stuff or comment on it. There’s eyes on you at all times. Just remember that there’s eyes on you all the time.
Casey Wagonfield: I think humor’s just gonna get their guards down, right?
It shows that you’re a real person, you’re just like them, not too serious. One of my favorite lines, is I walk in, ” somebody ordered Chippendales”, and then they look at me like I’m crazy because there’s no way in the world Chippendales would hire me.
So then I tell ’em I’m on the B team, or the day crew. But it always gets a chuckle. Right? Their guards are immediately down. And they’re willing, they’re willing to talk versus somebody who comes in just. Super professional so I think humor just goes such a long way.
Richard Rosner: It does. And I’ll elaborate on this, sales is like a date, it’s like, the first date.
Do you like, just say you wanna get married on the first date? No, you don’t. So why would try to close the deal on the first time, and they shut you down. They wanna learn about you, they wanna get character. They wanna see if you, got some vibes. It’s about that experience. You know, I say all the time. It’s about when they walk in that door or on the phone call you, you gotta just bring it every day because you don’t know what is on the other side.
And I think the emotions and stuff like that is what it’s all about. If you can tap into somebody’s emotions they’re gonna love you for life.
Rob Geist: I’m curious, do you think your approach is different when you talk to different industries. If you’re talking to somebody that’s, doing light industrial staffing or if it’s technical. To me, I see a huge difference in the kinda look of and feel of the brands of the different people.
What are your thoughts on that?
Richard Rosner: Yes, I relate to the audience, have to relate to the audience. And you also have to relate to who you’re talking to on the phone. You can hear their voice tone, you can hear if they’re engaging with you. And I think the big thing is on the phone call is, I always say that in the beginning, you want them to talk.
You’re like the host. It’s almost like we’re having a podcast right now. I say that if you get on a sales call, you’re the podcast host and you wanna interview them. If you think that way within five, six minutes, they’re, it’s almost like a Joe Rogan show. They’re telling you all about their detail.
They’re telling you about, they’re going camping with their family. And then they’re like, Hey, can we have a meeting and get that contract signed?
Rob Geist: Here’s another one. I’m curious to see what your take is on. There is no prototypical salesperson, salespeople are come from different walks of life.
What if somebody’s a little more introverted and not as outgoing as potentially we are? How can they work personal branding into their message?
Richard Rosner: You know what? You don’t have to be high energy like me all the time, but I think at the end of the day, if you can bring that expertise, but also bring in that real genuine you.
There’s no right or wrong way in sales. There’s nothing, and the sales books have been written over and over again. It just keeps cycling itself. You know, we can say 10 strategies here. Well that might not work for somebody over here. So I think the end of the day just you gotta be yourself and feel comfortable because if you try an approach that you’re not comfortable with. You’re gonna fail. So it’s almost like football again. I’m Bill Belichick, here’s the playbook.
But you know what, let’s do a little bit of audible because you’re a little bit quieter, you’re more reserved, and let’s run a play that way. So I think at the end of the day, just, be yourself.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah, there’s so many tools out there to help you. I think with posting too, right? With chat, GPT alone, the way you can prompt that thing to sound like yourself and give you ideas, there’s really no excuse. It’s just a matter of posting. And I love how you said that earlier, is just, post it. So many people are just scared to post and not every post is gonna do well.
Right? There’s plenty of times where I post something, it gets one like, and then another one gets 60. But consistency is the key. Out of sight is outta mind. And when you stop posting, people forget about you.
Richard Rosner: So they do. You gotta be consistent on everything and you gotta be, like I said, you gotta think outside the box.
So I hate to say that word, but during covid people were down. They’re complaining, they’re panicking. Guess what I do? I get toilet paper and I said, “Wipe away, COVID. Get hired by the Shark” on the QR code.
That went viral. We had 3000 pieces of toilet paper. So, paper equals placements. I can’t make that up. That put me on the map in my area.
It’s like, people are like, “how did you think of this?” I was like, a glass of wine. I don’t even know where I was at, maybe I was in my office or office number two.
I don’t know but I’ll, joking aside, I go to their offices and they still have my toilet paper with the logo. They’re like, “dude, that’s one of the most creative things ever.” Something that looks like it was dumb in my eyes. I’m thinking, no, I can wipe away Covid and get you a job.
You know? So I, think things like that, people remember that. Rob and Casey, and that’s what you want. You want a lasting impression with somebody. So you know, instead of getting that gym bag that they all get out and all that stuff, make your homemade cards or make something fun.
Casey Wagonfield: I think when we’re posting too, especially on LinkedIn, people can get very corporate. But some of the best posts are just you being you, right? It doesn’t always have to be about business.
I’m not saying go post your steak dinner every night on LinkedIn, but sometimes it’s good to just show you as you.
Richard Rosner: It is. And, and I always say professional headshots. Um, I might get flack on this. I dislike a shot. That shot of mine is from Myrtle Beach like a year ago or two years ago. So, you know what?
I’m just me. I’m not gonna take a picture of me like, I was in high school with a tie on. That’s just not me. And I think really, to be honest with you, candidates and clients. They want that, just that genuine person. I think our industry sometimes we say something that we think the client candidate wants.
And I guess from the experience of being on the streets all the time guys and interviewing all these candidates, and clients. I had three on one people go to work last year through the West Virginia staffing firm. So, you know, it’s like I get to talk to ’em all and I ask ’em, “how did you find me?”
Oh, you got a cartoon picture of you looking like Superman with your face on it? Why? And “I was curious. So I clicked on it.” So I think just being a little bit different, but also having that expertise is what’s gonna drive you in ’25 on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is fun this days.
I’m gonna tell you guys, as much as people say “LinkedIn, I want the old LinkedIn back.” It’s not coming back friends. It’s not coming back at all. Swear it’s not coming back. AI is here. You’ve gotta embrace AI. If I can give a little plug with AI, you know I have a bootcamp.
But at the end of the day, we have to embrace all this. And I think the people that don’t and don’t change with the LinkedIn – the ai. They’re gonna get left behind and they might lose their job guys.
Rob Geist: So last segment, Richard. I think it’s awesome that you have an AI bootcamp, first of all, and I think that could be a great place for someone to start.
So if you’re new to sales and you wanna go build your brand, learn how to use tools like ai. Where do you start?
Richard Rosner: Basically you gotta build AI agents. So that’s what we teach you in the bootcamp. So picture this, Rob and Casey. I’m a recruiter by myself or maybe I have a one person sales team.
I can build five AI agents to do pretty much all the sourcing and all the work for me. All I do is add the human connection. Isn’t that, “wow”. I mean, that’s where we’re at now. I mean, there’s AI avatars out there now. So I’m gonna tell you guys, this might not even be my voice. This might be somebody else, it might be an avatar.
You know, I’m just typing in. But it’s coming to that point now where you won’t even know who the real person is or who the fake one is. We’re at that point now where it’s coming and AI it’s gonna help recruiting out.
You’re not gonna lose your job if you don’t. If you learn it, you’re not gonna lose your job, but it’s gonna help that part of sourcing. We see voice AI right now for, you know, phone calls and all that stuff. But I, to still close a deal, you still gotta have that human connection. I mean, for me I still gotta have that yinzer and that voice I have, you know. I had to throw that Pittsburgh attitude out to you guys. By the way, you know, since you’re from Cincy.
But yeah. It’s about just being real.
Casey Wagonfield: Yeah. And I think people adapt to AI, especially the ones that are using it to maybe help out with those tasks that are time consuming. So they can then focus on recruiting or revenue generating activities and using AI to help them with some of the minutiae tasks.
Richard Rosner: Oh, it’s, it’s amazing what it can do. Love AI now. I’ve been embracing it for the last four or five months. Swimming in the AI ocean, I call it. And, what it can do for you. It’s like, wow. I mean, you guys know what ChatGPT has, Casey and Rob.
I can get on there and play all day. You can write a book now in two days. It’s, it’s amazing what you could do. Wish they had that back when I was in high school instead of reading Cliff notes, you know, and trying to cram it the last night.
Rob Geist: Hey, I wanna bring it back real quick for the newbies because I think it is important, every day people are graduating from college, moving into sales. They think they want to be in sales. And I think a lot of people really don’t know what sales even is. If somebody told ’em they had a good smile and a good personality, and they tell ’em to go be a salesperson.
But, regarding that, is there something you wish you had known at the beginning? Before you started your brand? About social selling, brand building, all the stuff we’ve spoken about already?
Richard Rosner: I’m gonna say it like this. I wish I’d have built my brand earlier. I worked for three staffing firms before I built my brand.
And, I kind of was boxed in. I had to do what they told me to do. So that’s why the Shark never came up here. I had to follow the rules, and now it’s pretty much, I can follow my rules. So I think anybody, even if you’re working for a company or anything like that, and you’re in sales in the beginning, you go into a client not expecting to get the sale.
It’s a process, and I think so many people get down because sales is up and down. One month you’re great, next month you’re bad. Just like football in and out. So what’s gonna make you a good salesperson is strategically changing with the times.
If something doesn’t work, try something different. And learn from the experts, but put your twist on it. Everything they say, take 50, 60% of that, but then put your twist on it too, because that’s gonna make you feel more comfortable. I’m gonna tell you guys, I hate sales scripts. I used to get in trouble all the time back in the day when I first started staffing.
They’re like, ” That’s not the script.” I’m like, dude, I can’t cite this script. I just wanna talk like me. You’re fumbling over the words. “Hi, this is a BC staffing firm. We have a lot of clients here. We see you have a civil engineering job. We have a candidate for you. Would you like to hire?”
I’m like, I really – that’s the script? So I think scripts are kind of obsolete. You can have guidelines, but put your own little mojo and your voice into it.
Casey Wagonfield: I think there’s gonna be people listening that haven’t started building that personal brand, haven’t started their social selling journey. So real quick. Last question for you is, somebody’s got 10 minutes a day on LinkedIn to get started on building that brand.
How should they use it?
Richard Rosner: I think the first thing is though, tap into everybody else that has a brand already. So start liking their stuff, comment on it. Trying to be involved in some associations. You don’t have to build your brand by yourself. Like I said, we all build it together, so tap into everything, all the resources.
I mean, you could tap into myself. I know you guys, I’m always here to mentor people, but I think that starts. And then find a brand that you like. Put a couple taglines, it don’t have to be overbearing, but enjoy it and then post. You know, and post, I say in the beginning, the first month, just post stuff that’s related to what you do.
You know? And then you learn from that. ‘Cause you guys have been doing this for a while now, it doesn’t happen overnight. You just don’t build a brand and click your finger. You’re not Chick-fil-A, you’re not Nike or Apple. For people to know what you do, it takes time.
That time is well worth it. And, I think, just keep grinding, you know. But have fun during the journey. There’s so much you can do with this and with the platforms. Now, guys, it is so easy. I’m gonna tell you back when I first started in 2014, we didn’t have the platform advantage like we do now.
Like you could be a guru almost on everything because everything’s right there. You got Chat GPT to help you. You got the platforms to help you. They’re free. You could put yourself as a cartoon character, a real person video. Everything is there for you to be successful. But take it in bits and pieces because there’s a lot coming at you at one time, guys.
You know that. If you’re in sales, you’re like, should I go on this platform, this platform? Pick three platforms, LinkedIn as one, pick two other ones, and enjoy the ride the first 90 days and see where it takes you.
Rob Geist: Richard, man, thanks. That was a ton of fun that time really did fly by.
And everything you would expect from the Staffing Shark himself, guys.
Casey Wagonfield: Richard, how can people get a hold of you? Where can they look you up? If we wanna go ahead and plug yourself here.
Richard Rosner: Alighty. They can look me up at Staffing Shark, or Richard Rosner, or just Google it. You’ll see me every podcast.
Anybody’s welcome to join one of my podcasts. They’re welcome to join anything. And if you just wanna have a talk, or chat, DM me. I’m always here. I’ll talk to you at 10 o’clock at night. You know? And, like I said, we are in this together. So, let’s go out there and let’s rock it in ’25.
Casey Wagonfield: Make sure you go check out, the Staffing Shark and his podcast, an awesome podcast. Make sure you go give him a follow, and keep an eye out as Rob and I will also be on the Staffing Shark’s podcast here soon. Talking everything VMS and growth. And shout out to everyone listening. If you take anything away from today, it’s this.
You already have a brand. You just have to start showing people who you are.
Rob Geist: And we will catch you on the next episode of Staffing Made Simple. If you enjoyed today’s episode, make sure you subscribe. Please leave us a five star review. It would really help and we’ll see you next time.