Meet The Disruptors: Robert Stern Of The Social Leader On The Five Things You Need To Shake Up Your Industry

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

… I would want people to realize that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to social media. The old adage “There are many various methods for accomplishing a task.” There are far too many individuals out there who claim that the only way to utilize social media is their own. I have shown and will continue to demonstrate, that everyone has their own technique of doing things, which is all that matters.

As a part of our series about business leaders who are shaking things up in their industry, I had the pleasure of interviewing Robert Stern.

Robert C. Stern, founder, and CEO of The Social Leader, a social media agency that helps individuals and small businesses create an army of raving fans and audience members on their social media platforms which catapult their business.

After using Social Media as a Real Estate agent in 2008, he had the insight and vision that social media would become the main way to advertise in the future.

As the creator of ETA’s (Emotional Trigger Actions) in content that helps gain more engagement than traditional content, Robert has helped over 1000 small businesses use social media to grow and expand.

Robert has spoken on over 70 stages worldwide, including London, NYC, Dallas, and Sydney.

Robert has been on NBC, CBS, ABC, Fox, YahooLife, The List TV show, Your California Life, and The PBNN Podcast with Jill Nicolini.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit more. Can you tell us a bit about your “backstory”? What led you to this particular career path?

I’ve always been an entrepreneur, working alone. For the next 23 years, I worked on a commission basis after graduation. In NYC, I served as a headhunter and in NJ, I practiced real estate. During my time as a realtor, I was introduced to social media. (Early 2000’s) In 2009, agents in my office started asking me to help them to understand the different platforms. In 2010, I decided to change careers and develop myself as a social media expert. As a result, The Social Leader was born. I discovered the thrill of assisting others in successfully developing their social media presence, which has made me very happy over the last twelve years. From the strategies for utilizing social media for businesses, to content development, new features, and the use of paid ads and organic combined.

Can you tell our readers what it is about the work you’re doing that’s disruptive?

There have been a lot of experts who advocate for automating their social media to be on all platforms at the same time throughout the years. I’m one of the few people that are willing to speak out about it. Each platform has its own character and personality. As a result, you can’t simply release the same material everywhere. I feel that each platform should be unique, and they should have a purpose for following you on all of your platforms. This implies that each platform should have exclusive material relevant to it. More content will be created, which means more time for the company to create it. At the end of the day, this translates into a tenfold return in revenue.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

This one time in the beginning of Live Streaming from your mobile phones, I was on Periscope. (2015) It had just started a few weeks earlier. I opened a stream and started talking, many people came in the room. I was giving tips out about using live streaming for your business. I was outside on a beautiful spring day. However, I forgot that pollen was strong that day. So, while talking I got that tickle in my nose. It built up slowly and hen out of the blue, I sneezed so hard I dropped my phone while I was live. I rushed to pick it up off the ground and was so embarrassed. I was about to say “So Sorry” to everyone when I saw the comments flying up. All of them saying G-d Bless You, or Gesundheit, and of course the LOL’s. Other people saying things like “Oh that would definitely be me doing that also live.” What this taught me right away was being human when talking live on social media. Don’t worry about foul-ups or mistakes. People love to see that you are human and not perfect. That is how you should think about your social media. Keep it real!

We all need a little help along the journey. Who have been some of your mentors? Can you share a story about how they made an impact?

I admire Gary Vaynerchuk a lot in the social media space. He just is himself on camera or in his writings. He teaches people that being oneself is more important than the company. The generosity he shows to assist others is incredible. Taking the time to talk with the 10-year-old kid or 60-year-old person who is starting over again. I believe I am someone who does things similarly.

Can you share five of the best words of advice you’ve gotten along your journey?

• Be Yourself
• Be Consistent
• Believe in Yourself, not what Others Think
• Think Outside of The Box
• Kindness Matters

We are sure you aren’t done. How are you going to shake things up next?

The next step will be to shake things up as it has always been. I’ll keep demonstrating what I believe in, even if others disagree with me. Right now, I’m working on a book about tossing all the rules out the window and doing social media from the heart.

Do you have a book, podcast, or talk that’s had a deep impact on your thinking? Can you share a story with us? Can you explain why it was so resonant with you?

None that I can think of on this question.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

C. S. Lewis said: You can’t go back and change the beginning, but you can start where you are and change the ending. This has a massive impact on my life. We all begin our professional or business careers with grandiose ideas about what we’ll accomplish in life. Then, life happens, and curves are thrown at you that either disrupt your activities or force you to alter course. All it implies is that you must keep moving forward regardless of what your aspirations and goals may be. Dreams and objectives may shift over time, but you must remain focused on where you want to go.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I would want people to realize that there is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach to social media. The old adage “There are many various methods for accomplishing a task.” There are far too many individuals out there who claim that the only way to utilize social media is their own. I have shown and will continue to demonstrate, that everyone has their own technique of doing things, which is all that matters.

How can our readers follow you online? What services do you offer they should know about?

I can be found on all the platforms. The ones I use mainly are

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/thesocialleader/

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TheSocialLeader

A New Instagram account. (Yes, Mine was hacked recently): www.instagram.com/the.social.leader/

Website: www.thesocialleader.us

I love helping people. We offer Coaching and Training on all the platforms, Strategy sessions and Management of a businesses social media

For the month of April (My Birthday) we have an introductory offer on my website. $56

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for joining us!