'Being a good person and understanding how to communicate in a way that makes you an authority."
Meet Troy Hipolito, a CAD draftsman, proudly served in the US Army, creative programmer, UI/UX designer, PM, entrepreneur, & single father. Known as the FIXER he helps solve problems & helps you make things happen.
Previously had an award-winning agency for gamification. He was lucky enough to develop & support interesting applications for both Fortune 500 companies & startups. From Harry Potter fan-based virtual world, & Xbox mobile app to Coca-Cola branded sites & applications.
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Table of Contents
We are thrilled to have you join us today, welcome to ValiantCEO Magazine’s exclusive interview! Let’s start off with a little introduction. Tell our readers a bit about yourself and your company.
Troy Hipolito: My tagline in my LinkedIn profile is “The Not So Boring LinkedIn Guy.” We help businesses and consultants with high-value services convert by building better relationships. We also now helping clients that can not afford the higher-end services via our show “The Troy Show” and further supporting them via our own LinkedIn Courses.
I have been a CAD draftsman, proudly served in the US Army, creative programmer, UI/UX designer, PM, entrepreneur, & single parent.
Previously had an award-winning agency for gamification. I was lucky enough to develop & support interesting applications for both Fortune 500 companies & startups. From Harry Potter fan-based virtual world, & Xbox mobile app to Coca-Cola branded sites & applications.
We were doing really well & it all crashed. For the most part, the large companies no longer used agencies & brought projects in-house.
We had to figure out something quickly.
I reached out to a few colleagues that were doing well. They told me about building long-term relationships through LinkedIn & creating a day-to-day process.
Yeah, I was not that great in relationships. I was a terrible dater 😂. But over the years I began to understand🤔 So I took the relationship advice & systems experience then combined them into a blended customize experience.
Used what I learned & started THE TROY AGENCY💥
2020 and 2021 threw a lot of curve balls into business on a global scale. Based on the experience gleaned in the past couple years, how can businesses thrive in 2022? What lessons have you learned?
Troy Hipolito: It is about building a GOOD set of clients. We fired a lot of clients that no longer fit our criteria and rebranded to “The Troy Agency”. We service 2 segments.
First: Seeking only 1 new high-end client permonth or month and a half. Clients are residual so revenue is compounded per month.
Second: Our show is growing and we build partnerships to sell our LinkedIn courses in volume. Helping both the high-paying clients and the general masses that can benefit from our help.
But we learned to work with good partners that are like-minded and to only work with clients that are qualified.
The pandemic seems to keep on disrupting the economy, what should businesses focus on in 2022? What advice would you share?
Troy Hipolito: I’d say:
- Build deeper and better relationships.
- Don’t sell. Generating business is a byproduct of truly and strategically helping others.
- Always come from a place of service. If I can not help you I probably can give you to a trusted resource that is a better fit. It is not about me getting a sale it is about you trusting me.
If you help someone there are usually one of 3 things that can happen:
- You help them and put out good energy in the universe. They will never talk bad about you. You have done your good deed for the week.
- You help them and they go back to their business and find out there are 23 other things only Troy can help with. So they hire me.
- They are so grateful they send you a recommendation to another potential client.
How has the pandemic changed your industry and how have you adapted?
Troy Hipolito: Forced me to not worry about profits and to work with good people I trust. It also allowed me to build a community of solid individuals that I support and they support me.
What advice do you wish you received when the pandemic started and what do you intend on improving in 2022?
Troy Hipolito: Well to be honest – I don’t know. It all happened when it was supposed to happen. So things are where they should be.
Online business surged higher than ever, B2B, B2C, online shopping, virtual meetings, remote work, Zoom medical consultations, what are your expectations for 2022?
Troy Hipolito: People will want to meet face to face in actual networking and social gatherings but the remote style of communication will stay dominant moving forward. So cherish the face-to-face human interaction but learn how to be human remotely. Think about who you are contacting and why. And how to approach them like a person.
I say find your “ideal person.” Not your ideal “customer” or “prospect.” Because you should not think of people as customers or prospects they are PEOPLE. So be human, engage and come from a place of service.
How many hours a day do you spend in front of a screen?
Troy Hipolito: About 5 to 8 or so…
The majority of executives use stories to persuade and communicate in the workplace. Can you share with our readers examples of how you implement that in your business to communicate effectively with your team?
Troy Hipolito: I tell people I was a programmer and a designer. With some type A personality traits. I saw something I just went out and got it. So I was a terrible dater in real life. You can’t go up to the woman of your dreams and say “I find you very attractive and want to have 2 babies with you. Let’s make it happen!”
You will probably get smacked in the face.
Yet that is exactly the equivalent of what people do online and especially on LinkedIn. Crazy right?
So old fashion dating or courting style works much better. Get to know that person, connect the dots and help where you can. That works better for high-value services.
Business is all about overcoming obstacles and creating opportunities for growth. What do you see as the real challenge right now?
Troy Hipolito: People are actually helpful and honest. Being a good person and understanding how to communicate in a way that makes you an authority. So people can get to know you, like you, and trust you.
In 2022, what are you most interested in learning about? Crypto, NFTs, online marketing, or any other skill sets? Please share your motivations.
Troy Hipolito: Well right now we are doing a lot but if I had to pick one it would be how to grow my online community “The Troy Show” and the partners that come along with that (that have large emailing lists) that will help sell our LinkedIn courses.
We are doing a few things now that are very promising.
A record 4.4 million Americans left their jobs in September in 2021, accelerating a trend that has become known as the Great Resignation. 47% of people plan to leave their job during 2022. Most are leaving because of their boss or their company culture. 82% of people feel unheard, undervalued and misunderstood in the workplace. Do you think leaders see the data and think “that’s not me – I’m not that boss they don’t want to work for? What changes do you think need to happen?
Troy Hipolito: Well, some will understand and the ones that can not change will not or not in time. That is just the way humans are. Humans tend to not change until staying the same hurts more.
As far as changes that need to happen. Well, it starts from the top-down. How would I or the bosses make changes so people can be heard? But not pander to people that are just whining. That means how do I be honest with the people to build the right culture. A culture where I can be profitable with happy people at the helm?
Have a 3rd party assets the people/workers and find out and also asset the bosses from top-down.
Go from there.
On a lighter note, if you had the ability to pick any business superpower, what would it be and how would you put it into practice?
Troy Hipolito: Well, we entrepreneurs were a lot of hats. And some of these can be outsourced via SOP and training.
However, the valuable skills are really hard to outsource. For example, working with our clients 1 on 1 takes a certain understanding and perception. These skills are rare as you have to understand how to read people and create content/material about them that is true even if it is not shared with you directly.
So taking over some of those special tasks so I do not have to do it would be a superpower.
One way I am levering that concept is to actually generate money in our courses so I don’t have to rely on the high-end client work. So I will make life easier in that way.
What does “success” in 2022 mean to you? It could be on a personal or business level, please share your vision.
Troy Hipolito: I just did a post on LinkedIn today on that. Strange, right? I mean literally 1 min before I saw your LinkedIn message. Take a peek and comment if you can. https://www.linkedin.com/posts/troyhipolito_mentalhealth-keepitrealmonday-challange-activity-6914186387143458816-KY5J
I am doing a 16-week/90-day plan. Well, I should say creating it. Check the post out. It has to do with balance and mental health.
Jed Morley, VIP Contributor to ValiantCEO and the host of this interview would like to thank Troy Hipolito for taking the time to do this interview and share his knowledge and experience with our readers.
If you would like to get in touch with Troy Hipolito or his company, you can do it through his – Linkedin Page
Disclaimer: The ValiantCEO Community welcomes voices from many spheres on our open platform. We publish pieces as written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Community stories are not commissioned by our editorial team and must meet our guidelines prior to being published.
