Chris Ducker and events – they just go together.
That’s why when Chris announced his first annual Youpreneur Summit in London and asked John to keynote the event, we jumped on the opportunity to be involved.
We know that Chris and events go together because we’ve been a part of two of his previous Tropical Think Tank events in the Philippines – in 2014 and again in 2015.
The time and care that Chris and his team put into creating an experience for those who attend never goes unnoticed.
As you can tell, we had high expectations arriving in London…
Were they met?
Absolutely.
From start to finish…
- The opportunities to build new relationships – in addition to enhance already-existing ones – were plentiful;
- The mastermind sessions each day provided FOCUS time for brainstorming and problem-solving;
- The presentations delivered a mix of inspiration, motivation and down & dirty actionable steps; and
- The nighttime get-togethers put the icing on the cake.
Top business lessons learned
The recurring theme of the entire event – something mentioned by nearly every speaker who stepped on stage – was this:
The importance of doing things that don’t scale; mainly, having one-on-one conversations with your readers, listeners, prospects and customers.
But before we dive too deep into our #1 business lesson learned, let’s check out the others…
Use #journorequest
I’m not a public relations pro by any means, but a great lesson from Janet Murray (who IS a public relations pro) is to leverage the #journorequest, which high-level journalists and PR pros use when looking for relevant news and stories to cover.
Condition yourself for success
This was my first time seeing Carrie Green on stage, and WOW!
The strength, passion and urgency behind her message was incredibly moving.
My biggest takeaway from Carrie was that you can actually condition yourself for success. She said:
People are missing out all the time simply because of what’s in their head. we take actions based on what we think, and that determines who we are.
So why not change that?
Create art every day
One of my favorite speakers who took the stage was Joanna Penn, and she talked about crushing it as an author.
What I loved about Joanna’s talk is she focused on the art of the work we do and the importance of doing it every day.
Simply put, “Whatever art is for you, create it every day.”
Your mission statement is critical…
…and you should be able to express it in a single sentence.
Here’s the structure:
I help [this specific person] do [this specific action].
This in from the man himself, Chris Ducker!
Your mission statement is critical, and not just because you need to be able to communicate clearly and succinctly what you do – and whom you do it for – to others, but also so that YOU have a clear statement you can refer back to to remind yourself of the path you’re on.
We all need to be more self-reliant
“You, where you’re headed, your idea – they are enough.”
This came straight from John Jantsch, who made several excellent, simple points about individuals needing to be more self-reliant.
In other words John said, “All the speakers on stage tell you what you could do, but not necessarily what you should do… what you should do is inside.”
Give yourself a little more credit and trust yourself!
Take unusual action
I’ve seen Pat Flynn take the stage many times, but this single sentence rang truer than any other for me:
Nothing will change unless you take unusual action, but more than that, you need to go all the way and commit to entrepreneurship. Then, finally, you’ll learn to believe in yourself.
It rang so true because this has been my experience.
Just five years ago I would beat myself up. I hated making decisions because I felt like no matter what decision I made, it would end up being the wrong one.
And so I made no decisions.
I played the victim, complaining about my situation – the job I didn’t like, living the same evening over and over again – but I never took a single action to change it.
I just kept waiting… thinking that someone else might take the action for me.
Guess what?
NO ONE else is ever going to take unusual action for you.
So what are you waiting for?
Your business is your funnel
Sound familiar?
That’s because this golden nugget came from our very own JLD.
John walked through the creation of your customer journey; this is what happens from the first time your avatar experiences your brand, all the way until they become a paying customer (or loyal fan).
Funnels have literally lit our business on fire, and they continue to produce recurring revenue for us on a consistent basis.
One example: Free Podcast Course
Our audience kept asking questions about how to podcast – what equipment to use, how to choose a topic, getting great guests on their show – and so we gathered those questions and answered them in a free course.
Those interested in learning more about podcasting hear about Free Podcast Course in the intro and outro of Entrepreneurs On Fire, where John gives a call to action on how people can sign up.
Once registered, that free course is delivered, and throughout the free course we introduce people to our free, Live Podcast Masterclass, which we host every other week.
On that free masterclass we drop value bombs for 1 hour, and then share our premium podcasting community with those in attendance: Podcasters’ Paradise.
So what might that funnel look like for you?
Really think about the very first touch point your avatar has with your brand, and map out a funnel that takes your avatar on a journey.
Lesson #1: The importance of doing things that don’t scale
We all want to automate, scale, grow, gain back time… but we can’t do all of that from the very beginning.
We have to be willing to do things that don’t scale.
Like having one-on-one conversations with your readers, listeners, prospects and customers.
Here’s how the speakers put it…
Pat started his presentation off by saying, It’s not about you. It’s about who you serve.
Mark Asquith started his presentation off by saying, The #1 most important thing you can do is engage in customer conversations.
John started his presentation off by saying, The most important step you can take in your business is to do things that don’t scale.
…and that’s just to name a few. My main point:
Lessons don’t come up over and over again on accident
If the same message runs through nearly every presentation at an event, then it’s time to listen up.
When’s the last time you had a one-on-one conversation with your readers, listeners, prospects or customers?
I challenge you – today – to put together a schedule that will allow you to spend an afternoon booking these one-on-one calls.
Then, set up a 2-hr block of time where you have 15-minute conversations with individuals in your audience.
You can reach out to them to schedule these conversations via email (anyone who has ever sent you a message telling you they love what you do, or that they enjoyed your last post or podcast episode – that’s a perfect place to start!)
I’ll leave you with another powerful quote from Pat’s presentation.
He said:
“If an egg is broken from the outside, life ends. If an egg is broken from the inside, life begins.”
Remember, no one else is going to take unusual action for you. So what are you waiting for?
To learn more about Chris and his online entrepreneurial community Youpreneur head over to Youpreneur.com!
