Building Emotional Connections: The Only Long-Term Advantage with Vladimer Botsvadze

Building Emotional Connections: The Only Long-Term Advantage with Vladimer Botsvadze

Kelly Kennedy: Welcome to episode 188 of the business development podcast. And on today's expert guest interview, we're chatting with Vladimer Botsvadze, a world renowned marketing expert and an advisory board member at the United States Artificial Intelligence Institute. We're chatting today about emotional connection and why it may be the only sustainable long term advantage.

Stick with us. You are not going to want to miss this episode.

Intro: The Great Cuban once said, business happens over years and years. Value is measured in the total upside of a business relationship, not by how much you squeezed out in any one deal. And we couldn't agree more. This is the business development podcast based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and broadcasting to the world.

You'll get it. Expert business development advice, tips, and experiences. And you'll hear interviews with business owners, CEOs, and business development reps, you'll get actionable advice on how to grow business. Brought to you by capital business development, capitalbd.ca. Let's do it. Welcome. Welcome to the business development podcast.

And now your expert host, Kelly Kennedy.

Kelly Kennedy: Hello. Welcome to episode 188 of the business development podcast. And on today's expert guest interview, I bring you Vladimer Botsvadze. He stands as a towering figure in the dynamic realm of digital transformation and marketing with an illustrious career spending over 15 years.

Throughout his journey, he has consistently been at the vanguard of innovation, earning him recognition as one of the foremost thought leaders in the industry. Whether he's captivating audiences as a keynote speaker, illuminating the path forward as a futurist, or nurturing the next generation of entrepreneurs as a startup mentor, Vladimir's multifaceted expertise shines through.

His remarkable track record includes being ranked as the number one global marketing thought leader by Thinkers360, a testament to his unparalleled insights and strategic acumen. Beyond the accolades, Vladimir's impact reverberates across continents, shaping the future of technology and business on a global scale.

His insights have graced the pages of prestigious publications such as Forbes, Bloomberg, and Business Insider, solidifying his status as a trusted authority in the field. With a passion for crafting game changing strategies and an unwavering commitment to excellence, Vladimir empowers individuals and organizations alike to navigate the complexities of the digital age.

In a world hungry for innovation, Vladimer Botsvadze stands as a beacon of inspiration armed with a wealth of experience and a relentless drive to shape the future of digital marketing. Vladimir, it's an honor to have you on today.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Hi Kelly, I truly appreciate the invitation and it is a delight to be here and I'm excited to share my insights with you today.

Kelly Kennedy: It's it's an absolute honor, dude.

And once again, let me apologize again for goodness sakes. We've had multiple apologies trying to get the damn internet connection to work properly for us. This is our third try to do this show. This is, I've never, ever done this before. Had that many tries to get a show right, Vladimir. So first off, thank you so much for your patience.

My deepest apologies that we weren't able to get this done the first, second time. But you know what? They say third time's the charm, right?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yeah, yeah. So I hope so that now we are going to have a proper episode, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Well, that was it. We could have kept going, but that's it. It's like, I want to make sure that we are getting the best possible representation through to our listeners, because this is going to be an awesome, insightful, insightful episode.

And I. I've been excited to have you on, dude. And I really appreciate you reaching out to me. But before we get into it today, we're going to chat all about AI. We're going to chat about marketing and technology in the future. And you'd already told me some things that are a little bit scary. So we're going to get into that.

But before we do, how did you end up on this path? You know, 15 years down this journey for you, and you've done some pretty incredible things, but who is Vladimer Botsvadze? How did you end up on this path?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Well, you know, I'm a long term thinker Kelly. You know I, I'm a storyteller to the core. I'm a practitioner as well.

And I love connecting with people. I love communicating with my audience and If you check out my career trajectory, I come from Georgia, but I moved to the United States when I was 18. I got my work permit. I started working. It was my first experience in my life. It's the age of 18 in Washington, DC area.

Remarkable start, you know? So after living in Virginia, I moved to New York city. So I, I built everything. I built my entire career on my New York city experience because It has a, a laid strong foundation for my success. You know? So I started seeing the world faster, easier, clearer. And I haveh, I, I, I started embracing self-education.

I, you know, networking is everything these days, you know, because, so networking, you can become a keynote speaker through networking. You can become entrepreneur through networking. You can, become influencer, you know, so in 20, I, of course, of course, New York City experience turned out to be instrumental in my career journey.

And in 2009, I moved to London because I was hungry for success. I was hungry for growth. So I started business. Marketing customer experience. I, I started working in business development. I used to work for 20 offices in downtown London. I had a very dynamic, I had a very dynamic job and I was surrounded by very positive and hardworking and enthusiastic people who were I mean they were very contagious for me, infectious in many ways.

And so I think this experience that I built up my self esteem, I build up my confidence and London is one of the best places nowadays in the world. If you want to move, move up in the world, gain ground, go places in your early twenties, you need to be London to grow, right? To surround yourself with right people.

So London is epicenter of innovation in the world. And I'm very grateful to the UK. I have many great friends in London. Who trusts me and I, I consider London my home away from home. And also in 20, 20, 2014, I attended some conference in Dubai and I understood how important it was to build a personal brand.

I instantly started hitting the ground running on Twitter. I built up my. following from zero followers to, to, to 57, 000 followers in six years, you know, in six years without advertising, without promoting my profiles. So organic growth, content creation, communication patience, patience, long term thinking.

Where is I mean driver of my growth. So in 2015 I built up my website at VladimerBotsvadze. com and I started providing marketing and consulting services. I won my first award in 2015 when Analytica in London recognized me a top one hundred B2B marketing influencers. I was not, I was ranked number 65 B2B marketing influencer in 2017.

I was recognized nu among top a hundred virtual real influencers by Analytica. And in 2018, I was among top a hundred digital transformation influencers, you know, so in 2020, I was recognized. Is number one, global marketing, which is the first platform for global because I was consistent Kelly, you know, I was consistent.

So as they say, consistent action creates consistent results. So I was very consistent. I was very disciplined. I was working 16 hours a day. I was connecting with the world. I was building emotional connections with my followers and I turned. Following into a strong community because I was, we were exploring the future of marketing together, you know?

So I think what is the difference between audience and a community? In audience, people don't know each other, but in audience, in community, people do know each other because they make stronger bonds. So I brought people together. While exploring the future market together, you know, so I was sure I was sending video messages Text messages to my followers that I was grateful For that they appreciated my hard work.

They appreciated my content. They paid attention to my content. They To me they liked they Left comments on my tweet. So I was grateful, you know someone from berlin, london, toronto vancouver, Las Vegas Chicago, New York paid attention to my content, you know? So in 2021, I was invited to judging panel of the digital revolution awards in the UK, and I judged nominations such as Outstanding contribution to my Microsoft ecosystem ecosystem and tech star of the year.

It was my firstuh, ever ever to contribution as a judge, you know? So in 2022, I was invited to judging panel of Stewie awards, American business awards. In in the United States, you know, so I, I judge amazing brands. I'm very grateful to Steely Awards. So in 2022, as I was recognized a month as a as an AI influencers in the world, because in 2019, I was ranked number six global AI influencer by Thinkers 360.

In 2021, I was ranked number 14 global AI influencers in 2022. I was ranked number. 16 global AI influencer in 2023, I was number, I was ranked number number 18, but now in 2024, I'm now I'm now number 11 globally, but, but this consistency, this hunger, this determination, this exponential growth.

In AI world opened up so many doors that I became advisory board member of the United States AI Institute, the United States Data Science Institute, the United States Cyber Security Institute. Just imagine that, that I mean, it was incredible, you know, because I'm a momentum oriented. I, I always look to my laurels.

I don't rest on my laurels. I always look to my laurels. And as you loved my LinkedIn profiles, great work experience, many awards of interviews, everything. It's because I'm a long term thinker. You know, I mean, I invested, I invested my last dollar into my website a few years ago, and now when you Google, for example, digital marketing, keynote speaker, my website, VladimerBotsvadze.com is ranked number one speaker website in the world, you know, so then in 2023, I became a mentor at TechStars. TechStars Saudi Arabia, Techstars founder Kate Ellis and Techstars Detroit powered by JP Morgan, you know? So at the same time, I became a judge at the Webby Awards, you know, and I, and I became, I became an associate member of International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences.

In New York City, which, which belongs to Webby Awards. And so at the same time, I, I, I have been invited to summit conferences to share my insights. I have been a guest on 50 podcasts in 2023 a global gurus recognized me number four internet marketing guru. So number one is James Clear.

Number two is Jay Bayer. Number three is Neil Patel. Number four is Vladimir Botswana. And number five, number five is Derry Vaynerchuk, you know? Just imagine that. I mean, the League of Elite Marketing Soft Leaders, you know? I mean, James Clear. Neil Patel, Jay Baier, and Gary Vaynerchuk. I was, I was ranked among top five in the world last year, according to the global gurus, you know?

So in 2024 as I have a great track record in AI, I, I, I, I advise boards in the United States, and I'm a recognized AI thought leader. AI Speakers Agency in London recognized me amongst the world's top 21. AI keynote speakers, you know, and I'm alongside Sam Altman, who is the CEO of OpenAI.

I'm alongside Sam Altman as it was among the world's top 21 keynote speakers. I mean, incredible journey.

Kelly Kennedy: Let me just stop you there and just say, you know, congratulations on your success and, and, you know, take it from me. I, I, I'm well aware of how hard it is to achieve the things that you have been able to achieve.

And you're right. It's consistency over time and there is no shortcut, right? Everyone wants the fast track. How do I get, how do I get to, you know, a thousand, a hundred thousand followers? It's like, you know you work your ass off.

Vladimer Botsvadze: I, I, I kept my nose to the greenstone. I kept my nose to the greenstone, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: That's right. You know, like it's, it's so funny. Everybody's looking for that, that fast track to success. Right. And I'm, you know, and on this show, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm always telling people, look, you know, you will achieve success, but it is not going to come just for free. You're going to have to put the effort in, right.

Whether you're doing business development, whether you're doing marketing, whether you're doing, you know, influencing of any type. It is going to take time, but you have time. So just get to it.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yeah, Kelly, I'm now 36, you know, I'm, I'm now 36. Just imagine that today is the 20th of June. And in 10 days I turned 37, you know, so, so, but it has been a long journey.

I have come a long way for my success. You know, nobody should say that my journey has been a walk in the park. No, no, no. It has been a very demanding, strenuous, taxing, but when there is a, when there is a way, you know, I have been I have become a guest speaker guest speaker at the University of Edinburgh Business School.

I, I, I'm also on the advisory council of Harvard Business Review. So why? Because I put My best foot forward, you know, I put my best foot forward and I maximize my success through my personal brand. You know?

Kelly Kennedy: One of the questions that I have for you after listening to that story and knowing about your background, I'm like, you know, we, we didn't get into it on this show.

It's so funny. Cause we've, we've already recorded a couple of times trying to get this right. So we talked about it previously. We're going to talk about it again. Like most people, when you LinkedIn experiences, most people will. 10, 15 experiences. Dude, you have 55 plus different experiences on your work experience.

And I was just like blown away. I don't think I've ever seen somebody with as much experience as you.

Vladimer Botsvadze: The vast majority of those 55 global experiences is in the last four years experience, you know, because I have become a keynote speaker. I hear becoming a board judge, advisor, the board member.

, I mean I, I guest speaker, you know, and I'm going to be a lecturer in the future, you know, but I'm very, I take pride in my journey because it's authentic. You know, I gained recommendation from the, from top executives, top executives of the world top Fortune 500 brands, you know. So I think that that I have gone from the number 65 global B2B marketing influencer in 2015 to number one in 2020.

It, it, it shows my hunger, determination, drive, you know, that if you put in the work results will come, it's all about hard work, you know. And so, so what separate, what is the only things that can separate you from the crowd is hard work and passion.

Kelly Kennedy: You know, one of the things that kind of blew my mind is like you said, like you were way ahead of the curb, right?

Like people weren't thinking of business influence. Like they were, but not to the level they are now and definitely not in 2014. Like, I don't think most people were even using LinkedIn properly.

Vladimer Botsvadze: You know, just imagine, Kelly, you know, just imagine that I was, I was I was getting ready to do my master's in marketing in London, you know, because I had I had a few invitations.

Offers from the top universities from the UK to, to do my master's in marketing in 2013, but I didn't have enough money to fund my studies in the United States to the UK, you know? So, so I was very driven that, that of course I did not study marketing in the UK, but at the same time Twitter opened up so many for me to explore great opportunities.

You know, so I became a mentor judge, recognize the influencer subtly there. I invested my money in my website. So many people recommended me, they endorsed my skills. And I won more than 200 global award just because I was hungry. I was determined, you know, I was motivated, you know, and I don't believe that you can meet so many people in your life who are as motivated as I am, because, because I love hunger, you know, I, I want to capitalize on every opportunity.

To move forward to, to be in the top 1%, you know, to become number one, to tell my story. So every marketing is all about I think what is marketing? Peter Drucker, Dr. Peter Drucker said that marketing is all about creating customers and retaining customers. Lifetime value and retention are everything, you know, that I have I have I, I, I was, I'm, I'm all about retention that I kept my followers and I was growing my followers.

I was showing gratitude. I was communicating with my followers, you know, and so many people nowadays, they are on their high horse. I don't communicate with their followers when they, when someone pays attention to their content. If someone leaves comments on their leaves comments on their, on their posts, nobody responds to them, you know?

So it is a big mistake. We need to, we need to respond to our followers. We need to, we need to interact with them, you know? So I'm very interactive. I love communicating. I love that I, I now have a 30 plus recommendations on LinkedIn, which means that, that I earned every recommendation by dint of my hard work.

Nothing has been given to me. I have earned every podcast appearance, every magazine appearance. You know, I was recognized Kelly. For example, I was recognized uh, excellent magazine, excellent magazine recognized me as a transformative leader of the year. But, you know,

Kelly Kennedy: Amazing. Amazing.

Vladimer Botsvadze: And another magazine, for example, inside success magazine, recognize me top 10 inspiring business leaders making a difference in 2022.

You know, wow, that's so cool. I never, I never. You know, there are people who pay 50, 000 to be on the magazine covers and to be interviewed in the magazines. I never, honest to God, I never paid any amount of dollars for interviews and for features, you know, because they interviewed my, they appreciated and rewarded my hard work, my devotion, my dedication, you know, that I'm all about passion and storytelling, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, it's so funny. Like, for the most part, and I'll be honest. I don't typically take reach outs. So the fact that this happened, it kind of took a couple tries on your part and then for me to do a little bit of digging. But we we self invite everybody to the business development podcast. So all of our guests are hand selected.

We don't typically take referrals, but you reached out to me directly and that to me was one of the, was one of the catalysts that I was like, okay, I'm going to, I'm going to reach back out to him and chat because it takes a lot of courage to reach out and say, Hey, I think I make a great guest for your show.

And here's why. And by the way, this is me and not an agency.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yeah. So as they say, so as they say, Kelly, fortune favors the brave, right? So if we are not intrepid in our business, if we are not proactive, so many people are reactive. We need to be proactive, you know, sometimes we need to put our best foot forward, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: Well, and that was one of the things that I wanted to chat with you about. You know, your whole speech that you just had talks about your intrinsic motivation, how, how motivated and driven you are internally. And I guess one of the questions that I had for you is, there's a lot of people listening that are like, yeah, I have that drive sometimes, but how do I, how do I keep that drive going?

Because you don't accomplish the things that you've accomplished if you take breaks. And I think there's a lot of people listening who say like, yeah, I have my spurts of motivation, But how do people really capitalize on that and keep that rolling because it can be very challenging to stay motivated and hard working all the time.

And you know, I, I bust my butt to keep my life going right like the podcast doesn't produce itself. My work doesn't complete itself. And if I want this thing to keep going, if I want to reach, you know, number one on the podcast charts, I'm gonna have to bust my ass to get there. And there's. There's no days off, right?

Like I don't, I don't miss a day. I don't miss a show. We don't miss shows on the BDP. We put out two shows a week, bar none, aside from me breaking my arm, we're going to be there, but that's what it takes. Right. And I guess for you, what was it like? What is that piece of motivation? Do you have advice for people who need that internal drive?

How did, how did you get your internal drive the way it is?

Vladimer Botsvadze: It's all about soft skills, Kelly. Nowadays, I would say a resilience, flexibility then agility, motivation, self awareness, curiosity, and lifelong learning, curiosity, and lifelong learning. Also empathy and active listening. You know, we need to listen to our audience, you know, and whoever, whoever is closest, closest to the audience always wins.

I have never been competitor centric. I don't even know who are my competitors, you know, but I'm very audience centric that I'm in the league. James Clear, Neil Patel, Jay Bayer, Gary Vaynerchuk, you know, among top five in the world, which means that I am audience centric. You know, I, I communicate with my audience.

I give away my best advice for free. I, whether it is media interview, magazine interview, podcast interview, tweeting, or I mean, speaking at global events, I give away. My best advice. So I want to encourage people to move forward. You know, I don't, I don't you know, Sell a nonsense in the back of conference room, you know, because i'm transparent, you know And I I don't overcharge my clients, but the only way that Big organizations book me as a speaker is to speak as bureaus because I work with speakers bureaus, you know, so I mean I have been building my personal brand is the last 18 years, you know, since I moved to the United States when I was 18 and new kid on the block in 2006 when I was given a US visa, you know?

So I think I have come a long way for my success and nothing has been given for me. I have I have depended on motivation and soft skills, curiosity, lifelong learning. I love reading 500 pages a day. YouTube is my university. So this embracing self education is one of the top drivers of success, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yes. Yes. But it's not, it doesn't come Easily to everybody. I think that's the challenge, right? Is that you almost need something to help you to take that next step. For me, it was starting my business, right? And eventually starting the show and seeing the success of the show over time. Obviously, though, when you start any new venture, you have no idea how it's going to go.

Like, dude, I started the show in my basement, talking to the wall, thinking, who in the world is going to listen to a show on business development? Turns out a lot of people, but I couldn't have known that at the time, right? But it really was, it was those little motivations along the way. You talk about communicating with your audience, man, the audience of the Business Development Podcast has been so motivating.

They're amazing individuals. We have a rock star listenership to this show and they're so awesome and they'll reach out and they'll say, Hey, we implemented the things you chatted about and we've, we've experienced amazing success. Thank you. I just got into business development. I heard this show and My gosh, I got the job that I've been trying for.

Right. And it's things like that really helped me.

Vladimer Botsvadze: And Kelly, one thing, one thing that contributed to my success is that I'm a giver, not a taker, you know, so many people nowadays are takers, not givers. So we need to give something before we take, right? We need to give. So I expect, I expect nothing in return.

You know, when I give, I give, I don't expect anything in return, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: But it sure is nice when people reach out and let you know that the work you're doing is appreciated, isn't it?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Absolutely. Absolutely. You know, I love when people connect with me and they email me that they watch my keynote, they watch my podcast appearances, they read my magazine interviews and I mean they started following me on Twitter and I caught, I may, I made a difference in their lives, you know.

It is a big compliment. It is my biggest success. Of course, it is great to be a judge at the Webby Awards, to be a mentor at Techstars, to be a guest speaker and to be number one in the world. But When, when, when I receive emails that, that I make, I made a difference that that I create content consistently Kelly.

This is a bedrock of my growth because I blog, I have my medium Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube. I have been a guest on podcasts, you know, so I, I, I never been I, I, I never played for Real Madrid or I never been a celebrity or politician. Yeah. Or I mean but, but I have told my stories through Twitter and social media channels, you know, and social media and Twitter is, is what has put me on the global map, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Well, you know, it's not too late to be a celebrity or a politician. You can start any time.

I don't know though. I don't know if it's what is cracked up to be.

Vladimer Botsvadze: But, but yeah, you know, I have been featured. I have been featured. I have been featured in Forbes, business Insider, Bloomberg. Yeah. Yahoo. Finance Magazines. And I don't have a degree from Harvard University. I never, I have never played for Chelsea or Barcelona or Bayern Munich.

I never played, but I never been a politician or but, but social media, I have been I, I have told my stories to social media and I, it has made all the difference, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: Amazing. And yeah, you were so ahead of the curve and you're right. You've had, you've had incredible success growing your following.

And I guess, you know, we're talking to a lot of entrepreneurs right now, Vladimir, who may or may not have started that journey who may or may not understand the importance of personal branding as it's applies in 2024 and beyond. And me and you both know everything has changed, but let's chat with them today.

You know, you've had incredible success creating a following, becoming an influencer, making a pretty damn big global impact. What kind of advice would you give to people who haven't taken a single step on that direction yet, but, you know, are recognizing they may need to?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Oh, well, you know, I think that it's all about it's all about consistency, curiosity, telling your story, providing value giving first and expect nothing, expecting nothing in return.

Because, you know, every time now I meet new people, They they all about taking, taking, taking, you know, I mean I mean they don't provide value and they are asking go something in return, you know? So I think, I think we need to create content. So our content is supposed to provide value that opens up so many doors.

You know, it builds great content, builds relationships, builds bridges. You know, in my world, A great content creation has built bridges, you know, with entrepreneurs, keynote speakers, mentors. I am followed, for example, by Grant Cardone, you know, I mean, incredible that I'm followed by Grant, you know, so so I, because I created great content because I, I have, I sent us 130, 000 tweets.

I have posted more than 60, 000 times on Instagram. I hear my medium I documented my journey. You know, I have, I have had my active presence on a medium, on a blogger, on WordPress, on Tumblr, you know? So I put my eggs into different baskets, you know? So nowadays when you do your MBA. Those marketing professors teach you to put all your eggs into one basket, which is a big mistake.

I believe, I believe putting my eggs into different baskets, you know, I think it is, it makes all the difference, you know? So, you know, I think also what has contributed to my success is that we need to start networking, you know? We need to start networking. We need to say hello. I think you know when someone mentions you on Twitter, it means that it means handshake for me.

You know, someone is shaking a hand. Also, you have to shake your hand, shake them hand as well. You know, so like to meh, social media is a reactionary business. It is all about listening and responding, you know, listening and responding. And as I say, Yeah. It's like Twitter is like a cocktail party, so you have to break the ice, mix with people, jump into conversations.

And I think no barriers on Twitter, for example, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram the rest of channels have barriers. You know, for example, if I don't know anybody, I can't send a Facebook request, right? Because if I don't know them personally, but On Twitter, no barriers, Kelly, no barriers, you know, people realize nowadays people complaining that like Twitter is a toxic social media network, you know.

But Twitter is the only social media network left that prioritizes human connection, you know, the rest of social media channels are content push out platforms, you know, but Twitter is the only channel for me that prioritizes human connection, human connection, you know. So, so I think that Twitter now has more than 600 million users and you know, And, and 300 and 350, 000 tweets sent one in one per a minute, 350, 000 tweets sent per minute, you know?

So I think that what is happening nowadays, incredible, right? I have witnessed that people, incredible, open minded entrepreneurs built multi billion dollar startups, unicorns through.

Twitter through communicating with their audience. Glossier is a great example because Emily Weiss started as a blogger and she built a billion dollar cosmetic brand. I think you can build a billion dollar business through blogging and connecting with consumers on social media.

Kelly Kennedy: Wow. Wow. Wow. So what you're ultimately saying is that business has completely changed.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Completely changed. 52 percent of global organizations have disappeared on the Fortune 500 list since 2000. 52% of organizations disappeared. Wow. Kelly, you know, because they are boardroom centric, not consumer centric, you know, because they don't listen to their consumers.

You know, and this is a big mistake, as big mistake that blockbuster made that they were boardroomc centric and did not buy Netflix or $50 million, and they were ignoring. The fourth industrial revolution, they went out of business, you know, and we know that Nokia lost market share. Blackberry lost market share.

Kodak lost market share. Why? Because agility is everything. Speed. It's no longer, it's no longer about big or small. It's all about fast versus slow, you know? So our industry has many Davids that that surpass. Goliath, because Goliath is slow, Dave is fast, so speed is everything, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: And kind of what you're suggesting is that, in order for companies to survive at this point, they really need to be able to pivot on a dime.

Like, you can't be this billion dollar organization doing things the same way you always did. You need to find ways to create efficiencies so that you can be more agile, quicker, and frankly, keep up with these smaller players who are able to spin on a dime.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Absolutely. So they, they still depend on this tried and true strategies set to work in 1995, 2005, 2010.

And top executives put their MBA degrees on a pedestal that no longer provide positive ROI. And if I attended a business school in 2010, this knowledge no longer works in 2024, you know, you have to I mean you have to keep up with the latest trends in technology. And I, I think what, what are the what, what skills do businesses prioritize Kelly by 2027, you know there are a few types of skills, Kelly, cognitive skills, self efficiency.

technology and working with others. You know, the first, according to the world economic forum, the first skill is analytical thinking, which is cognitive skill. Second skill is creative thinking, which is a cognitive skill. Third skill is AI and big data, which is technology skill. The fourth skill is leadership and social influence, which is working with others skill.

Then fifth, resilience flexibility and agility, which is self discipline. Self efficiency, you know, then six curiosity and lifelong learning, which is self efficiency. Seventh technological literacy, which is technology skill. Eight number eight design and UX, which is a technology skill. Number nine, motivation, self awareness, which is self efficiency.

And last but not least empathy and active listening, which is, which is working with others. So just imagine that you also, you need cognitive skills, you need technology skills, also self efficiency, and also you need to be able to work with others in the digital age, you know, work with. So, so this skills that leadership and social influence.

Then motivation, self awareness and empathy and actually listening, you know, so these are top top 10 skills by 2027 that businesses prioritize according to the world economic forum, you know, and I would also, I would also add to this long term thinking. I would also add to this list. If I, if I were a member of the World Economic Forum, I would I would you know, I would offer my insights that said long term thinking should, should have been added to this skill.

Because I think long term thinking is also very important because so many people think short term, medium term. But not only a few tiny, tiny minority of people think is a long term like Jeff Bezos, because Jeff Bezos is a long term sinker. And I think customer centricity, long term thinking, renuention, constant renuention, you know, because many people stand still, they don't reinvent themselves, but Amazon reinvented itself.

I think reinvention is very important, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: So when we're thinking long term thinking, I like that. I like that a lot. I think some of the challenge in that though, Vladimir, is that most companies can't see what's coming. So, Like in my experience, some of the biggest things that have changed my world. I could have never seen them coming.

Like, you know, I didn't know three years ago that I was going to start a podcast and I couldn't have known when I started the podcast that it would be as successful as it is today. I hoped it would be, and it's great that it is. And obviously I did a lot of work in the meantime to do as best as I could to make sure that I was consistent, that I was showing up, that I was providing value, all the things you spoke about.

Yes. But. I could, it still could have failed, right? It still could have bombed. There could have been, you know, 80 other podcasts that were better and whatever. That's what happens. What I'm suggesting is I think companies want to be long term thinkers, but I think that it can be almost impossible to see the opportunities that are going to come their way.

So can you maybe like elaborate on how companies can get better at long term thinking and maybe create a more accurate future?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Well, I think if nowadays from 2014 in the foreseeable future, if they want to become long term thinkers, they should become an AI company, you know, because I think the vast majority of executives believe that AI gives them a competitive competitive advantage, you know, so AI can improve business efficiency by up to 40%.

And reduce operational cost by up to 30% according to, to McKenzie, you know, so I think a global, a global AI market value is expected to reach $267 billion by 2027 and 28 of companies use AI for marketing purposes. Only 12% of companies use AI for content creation. Only 12% 44 percent of organizations use AI to lower operational costs.

And I would say that AI is going to replace 70 percent of global workforce by 2030, which means that 375 million, individuals will have to switch other careers. By 2030, you know, so according to the Wealth Economic Forum, 85 million jobs will be replaced by AI next year. Next year. Wow. Wow. And I think that I think total contribution of AI to the global economy is ex is, is is going to hit $50.7 trillion by 2030.

And and nowadays, 77 percent of people use a service or device that is AI powered, AI powered, you know, and I would say that what are the popular use cases for businesses in 2024, the conversational AI, which AI chatbot, cobots, voice assistants take over the global scenes and which expected to reach seven billions by 2024.

And customer service, customer service, AI replaces customer service representatives as 61 percent and and customer service professionals expect that most representatives will use AI automation in their role in 2024, you know, second is hyper personalization. It is 92 percent of companies are using AI driven personalization to drive growth.

And last is automated processes, you know Gartner expects that 69 percent of daily management tasks to be completely automated by 2024, you know? So I think that even recruiting and workforce optimization, 61 percent of plan, plan to invest in AI to streamline the processes in 2024, you know? So I think that AI, AI reigns supreme.

And I believe that over 60 percent of business owners believe that AI will improve customer experience. You know, of course, AI is creating jobs and also replacing jobs, which is very important to understand that. Of course, millions of jobs are going to replace, as I may, as I noticed Kelly, copywriters, bloggers I mean, marketers.

are losing their jobs, you know? Yeah. 41%. 41% of code on GitHub has been written by generative ai. Just imagine that coders are losing their jobs, you know, because of generative ai, even influencers, influencers are going to lose their jobs in the future because generative ai. is going to generate influencers.

Just imagine, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: They don't make mistakes, say they already, they know what buttons to push.

Vladimer Botsvadze: So I would say to, to boil, to boil my points down, I would say thatuh, building emotional connection with the world is the only sustainable competitive advantage. Emotional connection, because if I have an emotional connection with the world, I will be still sought after and if I see that millions of people are losing their jobs, I will not be replaced by AI because I have this emotional attachment to the world because, because I will be still sought after because this world loves picking my brain, you know,

Kelly Kennedy: Well, what if they make what if they make an AI bot of you and then they download your information, then, then you might be out of the job too.

Vladimer Botsvadze: But, but Kelly, Kelly AI, AI's downside is emotional intelligence, you know? Yeah, yeah. It is our advantage. It is our advantage. Emotional intelligence. This, as I mentioned, that this curiosity, flexibility, flexibility. Motivation, your lifelong, it is our advantage. So we need to capitalize on soft skills to surpass AI and to remain competitive and to stay ahead of the curve, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, no, I agree completely. It's so funny because, you know, for years I've been talking about it's important to build real relationships, to be authentic, to be human. And what you're saying is not only is it like it's something you need to do, it's something that you are going to have to do to just exist and compete in the next phase of the business world.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yes, of course. Authenticity is very important because if I don't, if I, if I detect someone is not authentic, I dissociate myself with them, you know, because I want to be surrounded by authentic, real leaders, you know? So I think that, that I have gone from zero followers to to 57, 000 followers on Twitter because of patience, because I was tracking my Progress from mass to mass.

My cloud score was 58 in 2014, but my cloud score reached 18 in 2018. But they put the kibosh on, on cloud in 2018. But in four years I was curious, driven, motivated to create content and to have my presence across several social media channels and cloud was measuring my influence on social media, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah, man. Like this really has me thinking Vladimir. You're like, what? There's a lot of like people in VP positions that have just held that position forever. That's where they've been. They haven't focused much time on social media because they go to work every day. You know, they might have very high level executive positions, but they haven't taken those steps to create an outward face of them.

You know, they're well known within their organizations, but to the world, to the social world, they might as well be invisible. What you're kind of saying is like, man, they're going to be in some serious trouble if they don't make some changes ASAP.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Start building a side hustle, Kelly. Because I started working from 7 p.

1. to 2 a. m., you know? So I think when there is a way, right? So we need to fish where the fish are and respect the fish.

Kelly Kennedy: My gosh. Yeah, it's It's a brave new world, man, and I really appreciate you chatting about it. I guess one of the questions that I have for you is if you had to go and do it over again, right?

If you had to go in and build your following all over again, because like to me, that's what I think is the meat and potatoes of this conversation. We have a bunch of people who are not building a personal brand. Heck, we have CEOs who are not building a personal brand. They haven't needed to. But now you're saying, wake up, you need to build a personal brand.

And they're thinking crap. Like, do I need to hire somebody to help me with this? Like, how do I do this? If you had to do it from square one, step by step, what are the steps that you would take?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Well, I think start small, build gradually, show patience never stop learning active daily learning is everything, active daily learning then I mean build, build, build your authority.

Oh, because I have gone from the ninth page to the first page when they, when you Google digital marketing keynote speaker, because why? Because if I earn someone's trust on podcast or magazine or somewhere, somewhere else, I'm also earning Google's trust, right? Because I never worked on SEO, right?

I never worked, but it is a very competitive world nowadays. They are investing millions of dollars in building their personal brands. But I was on a shoe string budget. I only had 5, 000, but I was building my personal brand from my heart. It has made all the difference. I was building my personal brand from my heart, but so many people building their personal brands from their head.

I was building my personal brand from my heart because there are only a few people who build their personal brand from their heart because they love what they do. They are passionate. They tell their stories and they work 16 hours a day. So I work 16 hours a day. to drive such transformational results.

So, so I embrace self education and all about momentum oriented, Kelly, and I believe that if I can do it, anybody can do it. You know, so you can turn all the tables and we need, we need to move forward constantly. We should never look back. And looking back is a big mistake. We should always move forward.

We should always choose optimist. We, we, we should bear in mind that there is always light at the end of the tunnel and and constant dropping wears away a stone. So believe in persistence and nothing great comes easy. You know, I mean, you have to push yourself all the time and also be audience centric, listen to your consumers, you know, provide value, position your brand as a media company, you know, become the greatest publisher of information, become the greatest publisher of information, because I don't have much I don't have audio engineer. I don't have video engineer, but, but I, I had my iPhone X. I recorded 45 videos through my iPhone X for free. I upload it to YouTube for free. Thousands of people watch my videos. I told my story with passion, with drive, determination. They believed in me.

Seeing is believing. So when the world sees what I'm doing, they believe in me. They work with me. I build trust. So building trust is one of the The biggestuh, achievements in business. I want to build trust with my audience, you know, because I want to be authentic, you know, because I want to help them, you know, I want to retweet them.

I want to support their journey. You know, I want to I want to. I want to show them that anyone can achieve success, you know, anyone can achieve success, you know, so it is all about playing. Everyone should have the same chain meritocracy, meritocracy, everyone should stand the same chain to succeed, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: Yes. Yes. But, but you and me both know the people who get in first go the furthest. Right. And so I think one of the big takeaways today needs to be if you're hearing this show and you haven't taken any steps to create a personal brand. And I'll tell you, I've had plenty of interviews at this point with incredibly successful people across the gamut through HR, marketing, sales, sales, All all arrows are pointing the same way all arrows are pointing in 2024 and beyond personal brand is not no longer an option it is absolutely critical to your long time success if you haven't You have to, you have to start today.

And you know, like Vladimir saying, start small. You, all of you have a cell phone in your pocket that takes video, start taking some video, put something out there, start putting a little bit of yourself into the world every day and watch it change because mark my words. I, you know, my. My platform is this podcast, right?

But I could have never known how far this podcast would reach. I think you will be surprised at how far your content will go.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Well, I hope so because if content moves, if content moves, it means that you are moving in the right direction. So we need to move our content forward. Right, Kelly? We need to move our content forward.

And my tweets reached 40 million people. On Twitter at no cost because I never spent on dollars, but I think that nowadays Elon Musk is improving Twitter and I'm sure that it will move forward. And I mean, the Twitter was standing still for many years while Instagram was reaching new heights, right?

And Facebook and the rest of channels, but I, I, I believe in Elon Musk vision. And I think Elon Musk's personal brand is a brand, right? Just imagine, Kelly, that Tesla does not have an advertising department, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Well, that's it. More people know Elon Musk than know Tesla. So I think his personal branding's been on point.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Exactly, exactly. And just imagine that Tesla brand value, what is brand value? How much is the brand value of Tesla nowadays? 71 billion dollars. 71 billion. And how much those traditional automakers are worse, you know, like Mercedes Benz, BMW, 30 billion, 23 billion, you know, because those traditional automakers, Mercedes Benz, Mercedes Benz spends 945 per car on advertising.

Tesla spends 0.

Kelly Kennedy: Wow. And you're saying it's all because the leader has built such an incredible personal brand. They don't even have to.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yes, exactly. Personal, personal brand is a brand nowadays. And if people, if people want to live in their ivory towers, I think they are going out of business, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Wow.

Wow. Well, you know, it's a new world.

Vladimer Botsvadze: It's a new world. And I think that as this community, this community Kelly's at Elon Musk's at every follower of Elon Musk is a brand advocate, brand ambassadors. sharing Tesla's Tesla's photos. It spreads like wildfire and entire world knows about Tesla's products without the need of advertising, you know?

So I think advertising, advertising is going away because we are in the streaming economy. We watch Netflix and we watch no ads. We listen to Spotify. We listen, no ads. Amazon prime, no ads. Disney plus no ads. Audio books, no ads. Podcasts, no ads. Just imagine that consumers are willing to pay extra not to consumers, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah. Yeah. No, they are. They are. Absolutely. It's a, it's a new world and we're all having to learn how to play in it. Vladimir, this has been absolutely amazing. Thank you so much for joining me today. You know, before we close out today's show, I know you offer a lot of services, including public speaking.

You do over a hundred global talks a year, and you've done what, 50 different podcasts, but you offer other things as well. Can you talk a little bit about the services that you offer and the, the areas you service?

Vladimer Botsvadze: I mean, what Kelly, you know, I, if you check out my website, you will see, you will see so many.

I mean, I, because I'm, I deliver my workshops, trainings I mean seminars, you know corporate meetings, different kinds of talks, you know. So during my year I'm very busy because I work, I work 40 speakers bureaus throughout the world. You know, just imagine that, how, how busy my schedule is, you know, but I provide my speaking services.

My consulting services then coaching, mentoring, teaching, you know, I'm a guest speaker to several business schools. I'm a guest speaker and I think that I it is very exhausting, exhausting journey, Kelly, very exhausting, you know, because I sacrificed my life. I was a scrimp and save to build my personal brand.

And I invested my last dollar into my website a few years ago. Now my website is number one on Google. I'm a long, I'm alongside James Clear Jay Buyer, Neil Patel among top five global gurus. And I'm also alongside Sam Altman. Ong the world's top 21 AI speakers. So I'm moving forward. I'm very delighted.

I'm very delighted that my sacrifices have started paying off, you know.

Kelly Kennedy: Amazing. I, and I know exactly what you're talking about because we invest everything into our passion projects, right? Like for me, it's this podcast and capital business development. And yeah, like I've given my heart and soul to both these things.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Your podcast will have a huge return on investments, which open up so many doors and you will have so many invitations. So, so people will pick their brain. So the, so the world will start beating your past because you have a strong personal branding. You, you are in a media business and you create content constantly.

This is a big difference.

Kelly Kennedy: Yeah, yeah, I guess, but it's still hard work, right? Like there's no, there's no easy button, guys. Like there's no easy button. You have to show up. You have to, you have to do the work. You have to respond. You have to be a human, but just start. You got to start somewhere.

Vladimer Botsvadze: Yes, exactly.

And as they say, big, big ox grow from smaller corns. And if you start small, if you build gradually, I'm sure that you will build a bigger corn, you know,

Kelly Kennedy: Vladimh, what's the best way for listeners to reach you if they're interested in booking some of your services?

Vladimer Botsvadze: Well, they they can visit me at VladimerBotsvadze.com I'm also open to new connections on LinkedIn. They can follow me on X formerly Twitter at Vladimer Botsvadze. Also, I'm available on Instagram @ VladimerBotsvadze. So let's connect and build something great in the future, you know?

Kelly Kennedy: Amazing. Thank you so much, Vladimir, for for sticking with us here.

It's been, it's been a heck of a challenge getting this recording done, but it was well worth it. This has been episode 188 of the Business Development Podcast, and we will catch you next time. On the flip side.

This

Outro: has been the Business Development Podcast with Kelly Kennedy. Kelly has 15 years in sales and business development experience within the Alberta oil and gas industry, and founded his own business development firm in 2020.

His passion and his specialization is in customer relationship generation. And business development. The show is brought to you by Capital Business Development, your Business Development Specialists. For more, we invite you to the website @ www.capitalbd.ca. See you next time on the Business Development Podcast.