Get Your Message Heard

Have you ever wondered what it felt like to do a storytelling act, but this time in front of an audience filled with corporate?

Well, here's a piece on someone who lives that.

Melanie Deziel is the founder of StoryFuel, a consulting firm that teaches marketers around the world how to tell better brand stories.  She is an award-winning branded-content creator and sits on the board of the  Native  Advertising  Institute.

Today we take a look at her life and perspective to her work.

First, a few Achievements

Melanie was the first editor of branded content at The  New York Times. She developed the first Master's course in Content Marketing for Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she now teaches as an adjunct professor and has degrees in investigative journalism and arts editing.

In addition to her work with  The  New  York  Times'  T  Brand  Studio, Melanie was one of the founders of The Huffington  Post's Brand Storytelling team and is the former Director of Creative Strategy for Time Inc., worked on brand across all 35+ US  publications.

Unlocking her Storytelling Instincts

It might interest you to know that Melanie believes in tapping into the storytelling instinct and curiosity of kids while at work – bringing the power in that mindset into professional brand publishing. Her storytelling is always poised to captivate her given audience and have them hooked on the subject without misleading them in any way by her story.

"I encourage people to think about three things – the acronym to help you remember is the 'P.R.E.' this is your pre-strategy before creating the product." Melanie gave this response when quizzed about her tricks in helping people unlock the stories within them. She explained further; stating that The 'P' represents the Product. Whatever the product or service is, you can create content around it. Then there's the 'R' which represents the Role that marketers and publishers can play in the customer's life; what you can help them achieve, how their needs can be prioritized and met, what differences can you can make in their lives.

The 'E' is for Emotion. Melanie believes that everything we buy or engage within the world is an emotion and that products and services spark up a feeling in some way or the other.

"There's something that that product or that purchase or that service is giving us on an emotional level, and when we could create stories that tap into the emotion, those are often some of the most powerful stories that we can tell" Melanie Said..

Fact and Fiction: Where she draws the Line

Melanie makes an effort in her work to always present her views from a journalism-side of things. She focuses on ensuring that her storytelling is built to stay true to the critical needs of her audience.

She believes in studying audiences and taking time to know what they would relate better to, as this can be a positive step towards achieving more significant progress with clients.

The NetFlix Case Study

She spoke fondly about her time as a staff in strategy development with the New York Times. The opportunity to offer marketing solutions to NetFlix regarding the TV show; Orange is the new black. The series boasts a true life story. "Orange is the New Black is based on a book; it's based on a true story. But we don't feel people know that. We feel that they think it's just a SitCom or these are made up satiations." Melanie recalls being told by Netflix

She would go on (along with her team) to put together a long-form investigative report with a 3-part mini documentary and Info-graphics telling a story of what it is really like to be a woman in prison.

"We interviewed current and former inmates of various women's prisons; we talked to prison reform workers, sociologists, activists, people who work inside the prisons, to tell that story: what is that experience like really?" Melanie said. This experience, while working with NetFlix inspired Melanie a lot and improved her drive to always want to have a storytelling pattern that pitches the crucial facts and figures to the public, even while mixing in a bit of entertainment or fiction.

Speaking on Gratitude 

As non-surprising as it sounds in Melanie's case, she owes a lot of gratitude to her husband whom she refers to as her number one fan. 

And indeed she confirmed that a lot of the professionals and team members she has had the opportunity to work with have had a tremendous impact on her career.

"It means so much to me, just to be surrounded by people who are sharing their talents and time with me and getting to share my talents and time with them. It absolutely means the world to me, and changes the way I look at my business." Melanie said.

Her Journey to Public Speaking

JJust like many renowned speakers, Melanie started in public speaking by first trying it out by accident, and then getting to like it. She had filled in for a colleague at an event, and gave an oral presentation at the time, and recalls feeling great after the event.

"I loved that people came up afterward and said 'this changed my opinion, this changed the way I'm going to do things' I feeling like I really have an impact," she said while defining how glad she had felt.

"I looked for more opportunities to do that, to go out and represent and talk about the work that my team was doing, I also saw that it was the kind of thing that I enjoyed more than most of the other aspects of my job."

Keeping up with her drive to do more public speaking, Melanie started her own consulting and speaking company three years ago – teaching marketers and brands how to tell stories.

Admittedly it hasn't been an easy road – starting small and putting in a lot of work. Melanie recalls having had low, and no-paying gigs at her early startup. But her focus was never daunted. 

She believes that loving her job and the fulfillment from helping the people she interacts with while on and off stage has been a massive boost in her confidence to keep going.

Advice for Speakers

"When you are stuck up on that stage, it is not about you. It is about the audience and the value you give them and the way you serve them best" Melanie said.

She believes that one of the biggest errors a speaker can make is to be focused on themselves while going on stage – rather than on the audience.

It would only be logical to agree with her mindset that it doesn't matter if a speaker makes a fool of his/herself as long as the right impact is passed on to the target audience.

How intriguing would it be to find out that the 'tallest voice' in the room is coming from the lady who's 4ft10inches or as she likes to put it: 4ft 10.5inches? 

Meet Neen James. 

She is a U.S acclaimed speaker and writer of Australian decent. Her books; 'Folding Time™' and 'Attention Pays™' are among the best sellers available at bookstores around the world. 

Over the past two decades, Neen has been advising different companies in the world including Viacom, Comcast, Paramount Pictures, and even the FBI, on how to improve their strategic planning, communication, and leadership development. 

When she is not speaking on stage, you might find her on the back of a Harley Davidson (yeah, the back is just for her!). 

What to do to become a great speaker like Neen

Neen says it all starts by having a single image on and off the stage because your audience isn't only those in the room when you speak. It is about coming across as the same fantastic person on the street or at other informal engagements. 

For Neen, being a great speaker is not so much about what you say on stage but who you are on and off the stage. 

"It's not just about putting your most fabulous suit on and going on stage; it's about all the interactions you have with your clients and your audience," Neen says.

And oh, she says it doesn't matter whether you're an introvert or extrovert, you can do what she does. 

"My belief is that introverts and extroverts can do what I do." 

She says while extroverts recover with people, introverts recover alone and regardless can become great speakers.

Indeed Neen should know. She's been researching communication strategies. Neen says "What I've learned in my attention research is that there are so many different ways to pay attention and we have to be able to appeal to multiple ways."

Early Career Lessons

When Neen started speaking, she had a mentor in Matt Church. He later became her business partner and friend. Watching him as an aspiring speaker helped immensely in her development.

"The things we talk about need to be memorable, repeatable and retweetable," she says.

Neen recalls trying to get Matt Church to mentor her for about six months, during which time he regularly told her that she wasn't ready.

"He helped me think differently, and also helped me understand the good, the bad and sometimes ugly days of the profession that I was choosing," Neen says.

Thoughts on Leadership

You could be quite surprised that Neen doesn't think there's so much to being a leader. In fact she believes that leadership is rather intuitive. 

"Leadership is sometimes whatever drives you crazy in the world, it is also a good indicator of what you call leadership," Neen reflects.

"When you reflect on the things that make you crazy in the world or you reflect on the lessons you've been learning over and over again, it may point you to your view of leadership."

Idea Shaping

Neen has a habit of pulling out members of the audience and instantly helping them arrive at quick realizations about themselves. She calls this Idea shaping.

"Idea shaping is the ability to articulate your ideas, your intellectual property in a visual model" Neen says.

More information on this concept is detailed on her website www.neenjames.com. 

Neen is so brilliant that while you speak to her about what you plan to do, she just naturally acts out a bit of idea shaping on those plans.

Time and again she has amazed her audiences using this concept.

Resources

Neen James can be found on all social media pretty easy, by her names only. Her website is www.neenjames.com 

Joana Galvao is a design guru and co-founder of Gif Design Studios. Based in Porto, Portugal, and with a team of 10 designers and developers – which includes her husband – her design agency has done pretty awesomely.

Starting as a designer at an agency in London, and earning a rather basic salary, Joana could barely make ends meet. She sought out means of having extra jobs as a designer – on the side – and that move landed her the first big opportunity to bag more clients through a Facebook group.

Today, Joana runs an award-winning agency specializing in brand identities and conversion-obsessed design, at the tender age of 27.

Early Kick-off, Challenges, and Breakthrough

Joanna founded Gif Design Studios at age 22. She had only become independent and started dealing with freelance clients three months prior.

She started hiring immediately, building up a team of 4 – consisting of two other designers.

Things didn't work out initially as the staff quit working at the agency no sooner than they had started working. And then, they consequently poached the agency's clients.

Joana states that those events almost made her want to quit, but with support and advice from her husband, things got more stable over time.

The Team – Growth over time

"I think building my team has been a challenge, but in a good way. Being a leader is challenging, figuring out how to lead without micro-managing was the big thing that I had to learn because I like to think that I am kind of a control freak and so letting that go is always tough." Joana admitted when quizzed on the biggest challenge in getting this far.

Gif Design Studios is five years old as an agency and offers the full range of print and digital design services to industry leaders in seventeen countries on five continents. Joana also speaks internationally on the power of design and creativity and her work has been featured in the Guardian UK, Brand Brilliance, and Digital Arts magazine. 

Business Strengths

Joana has ensured that the design studio focuses on being profitable as an agency. She looks after her team by creating a healthy work environment. 

"I wish more people were chasing and focusing on profit instead of revenue," Joana argued. "I mean, what is it worth to us if we have a 7-figure business and 7-figure expenses?"

Earlier Aspirations

You'd think that Joana had always fancied the life of being a designer. But as a child, she loved to write and aspired to become a writer. 

When she started moving countries and began to learn English, speaking less Portuguese which she was initially more fluent in, she had to stop writing as she was no longer comfortably fluent in either language at some point.

Then she delved into designs, recognizing the universal nature of its expression. It gave her a chance to share her experiences, ideas, and thoughts just like writing had offered her.

Public Speaking and Motivational Engagements

Joanna has been able to do what she loves – sharing messages and posts about her life's experiences and ideologies with scores of followers on her social media and through speaking engagements.

She was invited by a client to speak on design to an audience of about 400 people in Austin, Texas. She delivered a speech to the best of her ability on that day, and much later something struck her through a statistic.

Running through the revenue of her agency for that year, Joana realized that 50% of the income had come from people who had heard her speak at that particular event. This was a turning point moment in her speaking career, as she acknowledges the immense potential in talking more and the direct benefits to her business.

Later on, Joana was one of 5 candidates invited to speak in a competition organized by Giovanni, the founder of the Arc-Angel Summit. She talked on creativity in front of an audience of 3,000 people.

After sharing the video of her speech on Instagram, she got asked to give a 30-minute keynote on creativity to 300 designers, in Porto. Joana has recalled fond memories of her speaking engagements as she gets to do what she loves.

Philosophy for Branding

Joana says "for me, there are three V's to branding, my version of branding, that is; Vision, Voice, and Visuals."

She believes that vision covers the actions that you take and the idea behind what you want to do. A voice is what you say and the message you convey through your work, and then there's visual adding to it. She believes that all three elements must align perfectly in anything being put out.

Consistency

"To be consistent, you need to be clear on what your brand is, what it does, what it says, and how it looks like," Joana said when asked about her consistency drive. "Without that clarity, it's impossible to keep being consistent."

Favorite Book

Joana's favorite books to recommend for anyone looking to uncover the artist within or uncover their creativity more, include: "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron, it's nicely structured into an 8-week program with some exercises for the reader to partake. 

Then there's the second book, one which Joana recommends for anyone looking to tap into the power of their brain; titled "Head Strong" by Dave Asprey. The book talks about how to use the power of food, exercise and other things to unleash your potentials, be energetic and do so much more.

Resources

You can follow Joana on Instagram via @joanagalvaodesign or on her website at www.joanagalvao.com. Her agency website is www.gifdesignstudios.com.

Carissa Hill is a natural born entrepreneur who had her first successful business at the age of 21. Within 4 years, Carissa turned a home spray tanning business into a chain of 3 beauty salons with 9 staff and had her own range of wholesale hair extensions and mobile services around Brisbane Australia -- all without working in the business and exclusively focusing on growing it with Facebook marketing. 

Since 2014, Carissa has been helping thousands of entrepreneurs to master the art of successful Facebook marketing. She runs a successful Facebook group of over 16,000 members called "Coffee With Carissa" and is the founder of the Wolfpack Mastermind. 

Her current mission is to increase the percentage of female millionaires, after discovering that only 2% of female-owned businesses ever make it to 7 figures. 

Carissa is the bestselling author of the book "I Like Money - The Secrets To Actually Making Money With Facebook" and has been featured in publications such as Forbes, Inc, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur Magazine, NBC tv, and Funnel Hackers Radio. 

She lives on top of Tamborine Mountain (and even owns her own rainforest) in the Gold Coast Hinterland, Australia with her husband Travis, her son Jayden, her toy Pomeranian, Pebbles and her black cat, Pepper. 

Today, I'm really excited to have her sit down with us and share some of the secrets to how she's managed to grow her business in this really impressive amount of time.  

Born Entrepreneur 

"Being a business owner is a part of who I am," Carissa says. In fact, she has always joked that she was a born entrepreneur who has been starting side hustles since she was in the womb.  

She may have started her first successful business at the age of 21, but she said she has been selling all sorts of things as far back as she can remember. She eventually fell out of love with that business and subsequently developed an interest in consulting instead.  

She then started her coaching business at the age of 28 and has since managed to grow it into a business that generates income in the seven-figure range -- all from the comforts of her home.  

The Path That Led to It 

Contrary to the stories of many successful entrepreneurs who managed to build their businesses through a mix of business acumen and sheer hard work, Carissa sheepishly admits that she owes part of her success to her laziness.  

Being the creative type who is always bursting with new ideas, Carissa said she has a tendency to either be really engrossed in or distracted from managing her business, so she hired someone who can bring more consistency to it.  

She then realized that the business thrived with the person she hired doing most of the legwork and her focusing on marketing the business on Facebook. She figured she could turn this into another business venture, and so she did. 

Venturing Into Coaching 

Looking back at it, Carissa said that venturing into coaching was "a natural kind of evolution" for her. She's always been better at hatching ideas, building systems, and delegating tasks than implementing them, so that she later found herself treading this path came as no surprise.  

She initially started with making Youtube tutorials, sending out newsletters, and doing FaceBook Q&A's (which she all did for free for a while) before eventually transitioning into full-on coaching.  

Now, her Facebook group, "Coffee with Carissa," has over 16,000 members and contributes the bulk of her income.  

Expressing Gratitude 

Carissa said that she believes that you attract the things that you're grateful for, so she "always remind myself to stay grateful for my team and clients because without them I won't have a business." 

Tips for Other Entrepreneurs  

If anything can be learned from Carissa's experiences in growing her business, it's to always trust your instincts, take time to listen to other people, and always have systems in place.  

She says don't let your fears get the best of you. Prepare yourself for the worst-case scenario but always hope for the best.  

She also cautions people not to start a business with the pure intention to sell. Think of how you can provide real value to your customers instead and the earnings will naturally follow.  

It would also help to have a clear plan of where you want to take your business and how you want things done before you start thinking of expanding.  

Carissa says that there are many digital tools that can help you with just about anything from managing your schedule, to developing system manuals, and marketing your business through every platform imaginable, so make full use of them. 

Favorite Book 

Carissa credits Bob Burg's "The Go-giver" for changing her perspectives on online businesses and, therefore, greatly recommends it.  

She's also a big believer of following random interests wherever they might lead her, so she's now currently reading books on palm reading.  

Resources 

If you want to know how to double your business and set it up to run without you, Carissa encourages you to take advantage of her free Wolfpack Mastermind training by going to her website, http://www.wolfpackmastermind.com/.   

She also gives away free eBooks, videos, and training on her personal website, https://carissahill.com.au/, so make sure you check it out.  

Additional Resource  

I promised Carissa that I will be sending her the title of this book that I really loved but can't remember the title of during our conversation, but I want you to be able to check it out as well, so do try to add "The Sun Does Shine: How I Found Life and Freedom on Death Row" by Anthony Ray Hinton on your reading list. Highly-recommended, including by Oprah herself.

Jody Maberry is a former park ranger who uses the park ranger gifts of storytelling and interpretation to help people collect the right stories and experiences to give clarity to their message.  

He is the host of 7 podcasts including The Jody Mabery Show and Creating Disney Magic, a popular radio show that offers lessons in leadership, management, and customer service. 

Join me today as we get to know more about him and how he creates everyday magic in the things he does.

Describing What He Does 

If you asked Jody what he does, you'd probably have to wait for a few seconds for an answer because he says it's one of the things that he's always had trouble explaining off the top of his head -- mostly because he's done so many things that couldn't probably be any different from one another. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]He started as a Financial Analyst for a bank before becoming a Park Ranger. He then  transitioned to a Marketing Consultant before eventually dabbing into podcasting. 

Using Podcasting as a Business Tool 

"People know me through podcasting, but I view podcasting as just a tool to get some of that other stuff out of people," Jody says.  

And it can be quite an effective one at that.  

As a matter of fact, he's been able to use podcasting to pull out knowledge and experiences that clients used to have trouble articulating into words and turn them into something more concrete -- something that would allow them to have a clearer understanding of the message that they want to send out to their own customers.  

The Magic Formula 

The title of the podcast that Jody co-hosts with his partner, Lee Cockerell, may be "Creating Disney Magic," but Jody says that there's no magic formula when it comes to success. Instead, you need to constantly adapt to find out what works for you and what does not -- and that's where the magic lies. 

When you seek out opportunities to learn and grow, you get to meet all these wonderful people and live all these wonderful experiences that you might not have been able to do so otherwise. 

Teachable Moments 

Jody believes in seeking out opportunities to learn and grow, but he also acknowledges that there are times when some of the best lessons in life come when you least expect them.  

He then shares how he once had a hard time deciding whether he should raise his fees or not, just to find out that Lee Cockerell (who wasn't his partner at that time yet) has recently increased his fees -- convincing him to finally raise his own.  

It may not have been intentional on Lee's part, but it gave him the push he needed -- and exactly when he needed it the most. 

Word of Advice to Other Entrepreneurs 

Jody acknowledges that podcasting is not always the best solution for everyone, but if you're just starting out your business, he definitely recommends that you give it a try.  

"Start podcasting even if no one listens. As you start to speak out what you believe, it actually starts to form it. If you take what's in your head and you say it out loud, it gives it shape, it gives it meaning that starts to stick," Jody says. 

Resources 

If you want to know more about Jody Maberry, you can touch base with him through his personal website, www.jodymaberry.com. You might also want to check out and subscribe to his podcast channel at https://jodymaberry.com/podcastmagic/ to learn what you need to do to launch your own podcast channel in 2018.

It would be safe to say that Aaron Walker is a veteran entrepreneur. Having started over a dozen businesses during his four-decade journey has been pretty awesome.  

Beginning at 18 years old and selling to a Fortune 500 company just nine years later set Aaron on an adventure of a lifetime. The secret sauce for Aaron can clearly be identified with these four attributes: grit, authenticity, determination and perseverance -- and the glue that holds it all together is his weekly involvement in Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind groups.  

Aaron started masterminding 20 years ago with Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller and several other notable Nashvillians.  

Today, he spends time with his wife, two daughters and five grandchildren.  

Coming In and Out of Retirement 

Aaron has had the opportunity to do something that many people has not been able to -- to retire and come out of retirement for a staggering eight times.  

He's been working since he was thirteen so he kept telling himself that he'd retire after just one last venture -- although we all know how that went. 

It was during one of those retirement attempts that Dave Miller told him something that he'd never forget that eventually changed the course of his life. 

Starting a New Chapter 

When Dave Miller found out about his nth retirement option, he called it "a selfish move." He said that the world needs mentors, and by retiring a "final time," Aaron is keeping other people from benefiting from the wealth of knowledge and experiences he has accumulated over the years.  

Dave then invited him to do "Innovate" (a coaching program) and handle its Entree Leadership Mastery course. He initially thought it was not a bad deal considering how it was easily worth $10,000 at that time, but, surprisingly, he enjoyed the gig a lot more than he thought he would, and attendees of the event even called him later to ask him to mentor them. 

Dave encouraged him to give it a go, he did, and the rest is history. 

Living a Life of Significance 

You'd think someone who's had a very colorful business career as Aaron has wouldn't have any room for doubts, but when the idea of writing what would eventually be his book, View from the Top: Living a Life of Significance, was pitched to him, he didn't really want to do it because he thought that no one's going to read it. 

However, Ken Davis, author of 'Fully Alive," changed his mind by telling him that he's writing for the wrong reason. That even if only one person's life changed for the better because of his book, then it's definitely worth it. 

Working for the Greater Good 

"Do for a few what you wish you could do for everybody," so says one of Aaron's favorite quote, and he does try to live by this tenet as much as he can -- applying it not only on his personal life, but on his business as well. [Text Wrapping Break][Text Wrapping Break]"People think we need to do multiple things to be successful, but we just need to narrow our focus." Look at the greater good and find ways to make the most impact on the most number of people possible.  

Maintaining Razor-sharp Focus 

Aaron says that "If you're really going to be successful, you need to have extreme focus."  

The problem is people tend to put too much focus on the goal instead of focusing on the task at hand -- leaving them even more distracted than ever. 

To avoid this trap, Aaron recommends taking things one step at a time. Set your priorities, plan your course of action, then implement. If you keep working on each task with the same razor-sharp focus that you use on the others, you'll exceed the goals you've set before you even realized. 

Dealing with High-Stake Situations 

Of course, this is something that can sometimes be easier said than done, especially in situations where important things are at stake; however, no matter what the problem is, Aaron says that communication is always key, and to do that, you need to develop a level of empathy.  

"People only remember you for how you made them feel." Every conversation has something of value to add, so take time to listen to what other people have to say.  

Expressing Gratitude 

Aaron can say this because he's a living example of how much you can learn from other people regardless of whether you're actively trying to do so or not. Because of this, he's been able to look forward to each and every day because of its potential to change someone's life -- and for that, he'll always be grateful. 

Favorite Book 

Like many others in the expertise space, Aaron highly recommends "How to Win Friends and Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. He explains this is because it teaches people how to genuinely care about others and it should be required reading for everyone 

Resources 

Aaron is one of the driving forces behind the Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind Group and you can join it by visiting https://ironsharpensironmastermind.com/. He also runs a personal website, https://www.viewfromthetop.com/, which you can visit to listen to his podcasts, read his blog, or drop him a note.

Anyone who has ran a business knows how important business referrals can be -- so much that some are willing to spend a good amount of advertising dollars in order to increase their number. After all, how else would you get those referrals coming in, right?   Matt Ward says, "Wrong." 

Matt is a professional member of the National Speakers Association and a podcast host of the popular small business podcast Square Peg Round Hole! He's also a 40 Under 40 Recipient and Chamber Small Business Owner of the Year. 

He is the founder of Breakthrough Champion and author of "MORE…Word of Mouth Referrals, Lifelong Customers & Raving Fans" which was released in September 2018 and was a #1 New Release.  

He initially started a website agency called in Concert Web Solutions which he eventually sold in 2018 so that he could focus on helping businesses get more word-of-mouth referrals through his public speaking platform. 

Matt believes that the problem with small business is bananas, and, today, he'll tell us why.  

Goin' Bananas 

If the first thing that popped into your mind when you heard Matt's core belief is the image of a monkey, then you are not alone. 

Matt, however, is quick to explain that his belief has nothing to do with primates and the yellow fruit, but with people who go to events and hand out business cards without engaging people in meaningful conversations first -- something that he likens to dumping bananas on people without considering whether they'd like them or not. 

Changing Tactics 

Matt admits that early in his career, he was probably one of those people handing bananas as well, but after reading Keith Ferrazzi's "Never Eat Alone," he grew to understand relationships better.  

He also learned how you can build mutually beneficial ones simply by engaging them in a conversation and truly caring about what they have to say.  

How to Get Word-of-Mouth Referrals 

Matt shares that about 90% of his business now relies on word-of-mouth referrals alone, and he said he managed to do this by educating people. 

"You have to arm people with the knowledge of what it is you're looking for and what you're all about."  

He said a lot of people get lost in targeting the right market that they neglect to figure out the message that they want to send. "You need to know your topic first; your target second," he explains. 

Grateful to be Living the Dream 

Matt said like everyone, he had his dreams when he was younger, but like a lot of people, he thought they were just that -- dreams.  

After all, he's the first in his family to graduate and the first one not to go into prison, but he met someone who encouraged him to start his own business, he decided to give it a try, made some big changes in his life, and now he's here. 

Building Relationships with People 

Matt said he owes it all to the relationships he built, which, he said, all started from caring. 

"When you care about others, they care about you, and referrals are a by-product of caring," Matt explained. 

That said, he reminds people not to give just for the sake of getting something in return. Even if people don't refer you, he said that it builds a habit of helping other people, and you'll never know how it's going to impact their life, and, maybe in the future, yours as well. 

One Step at a Time 

"You can't care about 200 people at once." Matt knows this too well so he advises people to take things one step at a time. He says you can start by staying in touch then paying attention to what they say. After that, always try to find ways to provide value to the people you meet. 

"One of the core tenets behind getting word-of-mouth referrals is surprise." The goal of advertising is to always be at the top of the mind of your prospects, and this is one good way of leaving a strong impression on them.  

Favorite Book 

Matt identifies Keith's Ferrazi's "Never Eat Alone" as his favorite book. In fact, he has multiple copies in his bookshelf that he ships out to other people every now and then. 

Resources 

If you want to learn more about Matt Ward or book his services for an event, you can get in touch with him through his website or LinkedIn account. He also has a FaceBook group that you can join to get free tips on how to get more referrals by word of mouth.

Ford Saeks has redefined the formula for business success. His efforts have helped companies generate a total of over a billion dollars in sales worldwide. From start-ups to Fortune 500's, Saeks is widely recognized as a Business Growth Innovator.  

With over 20 years' experience (ranging from retail to wholesale), he has founded over ten companies, authored four books, awarded three U.S. patents, and received numerous industry awards thanks to the tenacity and innovation which fuels this revenue-generating powerhouse.  

From grassroots to Google, Ford provides his clients with fresh perspectives and doable tactics to resolve branding, marketing, operations, and growth challenges.  

As President and CEO of Prime Concepts Group, Inc., an integrated marketing services firm, Ford specializes in helping businesses attract loyal and repeat customers, monetize social media, and ignite innovation.  

The Formula for Success 

Ford has had a very long and colorful career, but regardless of what endeavors he ventured into, there was one formula that he has always relied on: Message + market + method.  

If things are working, he explains that it means that you have the right combination for all three figured out, but if not, it means that there's a mismatch somewhere and you need to reassess your strategy to get things back on the right track. 

Leaving Your Digital Footprint 

In this time and age where there are lots of free tools that you can use to market your brand, it's a sin not to take advantage of them, and one way to do that is to use them to build a digital footprint that will lead potential customers to your brand regardless of where and how they found you. 

Fishing Where the Fish Are 

There are way too many tools that you can use to build a digital footprint that you can't possibly use everything at once, so Ford suggests that you pick one or two to focus on based on where your target customers usually spend the most time on.  

This is going to vary per business, but most of them would use at least one or a combination of these three: social media websites, review aggregator websites, and industry association websites. 

Don't Get Hung Up on the Numbers 

All three websites can help bring an influx of traffic to your own, personal site; however, Ford cautions listeners not to get hung up on the numbers because it's not the quantity that matters but the quality.  

Numbers can help in building social proof, but what you really need to focus on is building relationships -- of finding a way to provide value to your customers so they will consume or utilize your brand. 

Providing Value to Customers 

There's no shortage of information on the internet that sometimes the best way to provide value to your customers is simply by helping them convert those massive amounts of data into easily digestible sets of information that they can use to make informed decisions.  

"It's not what we know that counts. It's what we do," Ford emphasizes. By steering customers or potential customers to a particular course of action, you can position yourself as the authority figure in your field of expertise. 

Putting Action at the Center of it All 

Taking action is a big part of Ford's core philosophies in life, and its roots can be traced back to when he was fifteen and locked up in prison with adult prisoners. 

Someone gave him a cassette tape of Denis Waitley's Psychology of Winning, and while it discussed a lot of things, all that he remembered hearing from it was, if he didn't turn his life around, he would probably die before he turned 25. 

Ford credits this as the defining moment that changed his life, and within 30 days of listening to it, he created his first company and generated 35 thousand in sales on his first year, which would be equivalent to roughly 300 thousand in today's money. 

And it all happened because he decided to take action. 

Giving Back 

Ford would always be grateful that despite his rough start, he was given the opportunity to start again. Because of this, he likes to use his experiences to inspire others to pursue their dreams despite setbacks or what other people may say. 

"We all have our stories… You can either produce results or you can make excuses. You can't do both," he says.  

People don't take action because of fear. Fear of causing conflict, fear of making a change, and fear of failing, and it's something that even the best speakers often have trouble breaking through.  

That said, Ford believes that people just need to take a step back and revisit their lives.  

"People make mistakes all the time. You just have to move forward, take action, live the best you can." 

Favorite Book to Recommend 

Ford has several books that he loves to recommend, his own, Superpower, being one of the first ones. There's also Fanatical Prospecting by Jeb Blount, 10X Your Business, 10X Your Income and 10X Your Life by Grant Cardone, Mel Robbins' The 5-Second Rule, and Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect. 

"It's not so much the book title, but what you want to learn," he adds. He, therefore, recommends that you build your own personal success library based on the things that you are passionate about. 

Resources 

If you want to connect with Ford, he says that the best way to do so is by adding him on LinkedIn. You can also find more information about him and the services that he offers on their company website, www.primeconcepts.com. 

Free Coaching Session 

To honor Ford Saek's generosity in sharing his precious time and valuable experiences with us, I am offering a free 30-minute free coaching session for your business to encourage you to take action the way he did. Just hit me up with a private message at any of my social media accounts which you will find here.

Corey Poirier is a multiple-time TEDx and MoMonday's Speaker, the host of the top-rated 'Conversations with PASSION' Radio Show, and a columnist with Entrepreneur Magazine, Progress Magazine. He has over 900 articles in print – has appeared on Global TV, CTV, CBC TV and Radio, and has been one of the few leaders featured twice on the popular Entrepreneur on Fire show. 

Corey has interviewed over 4,000 of the world's top leaders in search of the traits that set them apart and he has enjoyed successful corporate careers with Global 1000 company Konica Minolta, Fortune 500 Companies Toshiba Corp., and Hewlett Packard and SAP Software. 

He's also a stand-up comedian who performed on more than 700 occasions, co-hosted a comedy radio show for a year, and had his 2014 album nominated as Rock Recording of the Year. 

Self-introduction 

Corey has been so many things that a detailed introduction of him would probably require several pages of paper, but if you'd ask him how he likes to introduce himself, he'd tell you that he likes talking about how he was raised by a single mother and how this experience helped shape him into the man that he is now. 

Search for Validation 

Corey explains that this unusual way of introducing himself is probably rooted in how he used to imagine how his mom must have felt about parenting -- of how much of a thankless job it can be -- so he wanted her to get the credit that she rightfully deserves.  

In a way, this was also reflective of his own desire to gain recognition for his work, not only in his early career in stand-up comedy, and later on, public speaking, but also in one of his biggest passions -- music. 

Not All Fun and Games 

Corey had his career start in stand-up comedy, but contrary to what people usually associate with it, it was not all fun and games. In fact, it was a total disaster.  

"Going into standup was terrifying, and I bombed over and over… First two years, I didn't have five minutes that work," he shared.  

There were some other challenges as well -- mainly, standup comedy doesn't really pay well -- and there's also having to deal with drunks and the heckling that comes with them a lot of times. 

Going Into Public Speaking 

Transitioning from standup comedy into public speaking wasn't easy either. It took him nine, long years before he finally made the switch after being inspired by watching Tony Robbins live, and he readily admits that, "I'm almost as terrible there too… People see us now and think, 'Oh, you must be comfortable at speaking, natural at speaking, but they didn't see all the time it took to get there.'" 

Lucky Break 

The same time that Corey was doing his rounds at comedy circuits and making early attempts to break into the public speaking business, he was also doing sales, and it was this that gave him his first lucky break. 

He shares how he used to teach sales at a local college and how one of its clients called them up to request that instead of sending over forty of their staff to the campus for a sales course, they send over Corey to their office instead. 

The college agreed and the rest was history. It wasn't his biggest break by far, but it definitely set the tone of his career. 

More Challenges Ahead 

Some people think that once you break into public speaking, you've basically got it made, but Corey is quick to explain that "Getting on stage is one thing. Getting paid is another." 

People go to your talks not to hear you speak, but to know what value your talk can provide to them. "A speaking gig is useless if you don't have a message," Corey reiterates. That, in itself, is a challenge, and it took him many years and constant adjustments to figure out what that message is going to be. 

Teachable Moments 

Corey may have had to overcome many challenges, but he also received a lot of support from the people around him, and two of them taught him incredibly valuable lessons that he still applies to his everyday life. 

One is his grandfather who taught him that "no matter how passionate you are about something, there's always something you won't like, but treat it like you like it." 

The other is a senior who helped him when he was just starting out even when doing so is not going to do him any favors, which taught him the value of integrity and giving back. 

What He's Grateful For 

Corey has many things to be grateful for, but more than anything, he's grateful that he can serve and impact other people, and that he can make a living out of it.  

He's also grateful that he has an incredible support network that understands him and helps him with his work including his beloved girlfriend. 

Favorite Book to Recommend 

Recommending a specific book is incredibly hard, but if Corey would be allowed to recommend a few, he'd recommend Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People, Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, Darren Hardy's The Compound Effect, and Carmine Gallo's The Presentation Secrets of Steve Jobs. 

Resources   

If you want to know more about Corey Poirier, read his articles, listen to his podcast interviews, watch videos of his speeches, or connect with him online, just head over to www.thatspeakerguy.com or go to www.thattedxprogram.com if you want to get his training course on securing a TEDx live.

Chris Widener has been named one of the top 50 speakers in the world and one of Inc Magazine's top 100 speakers. He is the author of 20 books that have sold 3 million copies in 13 languages. He's a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author. His book, The Art of Influence, has taken him all over the world speaking to groups as large as 25,000 people, teaching them how to gain trust, respect, admiration, and loyalty. 

Today, he's going to have a chat with us not only to share how he managed to clinch these spots, he's also here to tell us the obstacles that he had to overcome to get his speaking business off the ground, the mistakes he made along the way, the people who helped him get back on the right track, and the lessons that he learned. 

No Cinderella Story 

Chris Widener minces no words when describing his childhood, saying "I had a really rotten upbringing."  

He grew up in a single parent household, switched schools 11 times in a span of 28 months, started using drugs during sixth grade, and earned money from selling marijuana and gambling at the horse races. It wasn't until he felt that his life was going nowhere that he decided that he needed to make changes. 

The Transition 

Compared to many public speakers who started their public speaking careers late in their lives, Chris Widener had a relatively early start, and he owes a part of it to his earlier struggles in life. 

He started doing the rounds at summer camps, speaking in front of junior high school, high school, and college students before eventually transitioning to speaking in front of adult audiences. 

However,  like many transitions, things didn't always go smoothly.  

Facepalm Moments 

Chris shares one unfortunate but funny incident back when he used to publish an e-zine to help him promote his public speaking business. He built a fax journal and used it to send his newsletters to his subscribers. When he moved to Seattle, he learned about the possible benefits of email and decided to make the switch -- but there was a problem.  

"Everybody in Seattle had an email address, but nobody anywhere else had an email  address, and I lost like 90% of my subscribers overnight by switching to email," he recalls while laughing out loud. 

Ghostwriting Career 

Many people now know Chris Widener as a bestselling author, but probably few know that he used to ghostwrite for other people, including the popular John Maxwell, himself. In fact, it's through this gig that he met one of the people who has been instrumental in the growth of his public speaking business -- John Rohn. 

"People say, 'how do I build a speaking career,' and I said, 'Well, first of all, work with Jim Rohn then work with Zig Ziglar," he jokes. 

Serious Lessons Learned 

Jokes aside, Chris Widener credits Jim Rohn and Zig Ziglar as very influential figures in his public speaking career not only because they used to refer clients that they can no longer accommodate to him when he was just starting out, but also because the way they worked and interacted with people taught him to stop measuring himself against others and focus on the things that he can do as an individual and how he can impact other people instead. 

Positioning Yourself 

Most courses about public speaking focus on a specialization or two -- usually marketing -- but for Chris, one of the first things that you should learn if you intend to enter the business is positioning yourself.  

He tells people not to be intimidated by the big names. Instead find a gap that you can fill, and become an expert at it. 

As an example, he shared how he started as a motivational speaker then moved on to becoming a leadership speaker, then a speaker on influence, before finally focusing on character-based influence. 

Resources

It took Chris years to find his niche, and he knows exactly how time-consuming it can be. Because of this, he developed a much shorter one-year program that can help aspiring public speakers learn the A-Z of public speaking from positioning, branding, and building a social media following, to website building and podcasting. 

If you'd like to join in on the action, just head over to the Facebook group Speak for Money and send Chris a private message or you can also send him an email at [email protected] or [email protected] ask for info.  

Additional information about him and the services that he offers can also be found on his website.