We had a great UK Podcasters meetup in London with Chris Ducker as our guest of honour. Listen to Chris talk about his book, masterminds and UK podcasting.
Chris Ducker On His Virtual Freedom Book Launch
It ended up being a lot more work than I anticipated. I looked at the book launch in exactly the same manner as I look at any other kind of launch, whether it be an online product, or a service, or a business, or whatever. I do business online, but I also do business offline as well. I'm very much a brick and mortar guy. I've launched everything from yoga studios to coworking spaces. I really approach it with the same kind of mentality of really just flipping a switch, planning like crazy, and then having the best things in place that I could to help me execute.
Chris On The State Of Podcasting In The UK
The UK is catching up. Let's not beat around the bush. We're always a little behind our friends on the other side of the pond, I mean America. I've been saying it for years that the UK is a market that's ripe when it comes to, not only podcast, but entrepreneurship in general. When you get groups, like you and your better half have put together, and worked hard to grow, even in the short space of time you've been doing this. That means a lot, not only that it means that you guys are passionate about making it happen, but the fact that it's growing shows that there's a genuine passion there for that. I think that overall, just the whole new media space in the UK is good. You're literally 18, 24 months away from an explosion, literally.
Private Mastermind Sessions With Chris Ducker
For me, I like doing that stuff. Yes, I make a little money out of it, but I like doing it, because I like being around other like-minded entrepreneurs. Even though I'm the host of the event, I still walk away form those kind of events with a crap load of content for myself, and ideas, and clarity, just being able to have the ability to be able to bounce ideas, and concepts, and strategies, and discuss problems, and issues, and find solutions to those problems with other like-minded entrepreneurs. It's huge, absolutely huge. If I was to live in the UK… I haven't lived here for 14 years now, but if I was to live in the UK, there's no doubt in my mind I'll do a couple of those days every single month, because I love them so much.
Why Are There Few In UK Doing “New Business”?
It's a comfort zone thing. Here in the UK we are very conservative. We like to think that our 9 to 5 jobs are going to be there forever, and all the rest of it. We were just discussing this with the rest of the group here that people are scared. It's the fear of the unknown, isn't it? Fear of the unknown, and not knowing what will happen if I take the plunge. But I believe that if you have an entrepreneurial spirit burning inside of you, if you don't take the plunge, you are doing the world a massive misjustice, because you can provide answers to people's questions. You can provide solutions to people's problems in a way that no one else can.
I don't care if you're a dog walker, and there's another professional dog walker in the next town, and next to you. Nobody walks dogs like you. It's your experience, it's your stories, your expertise, your style, your personality. People will buy you. People want to do business with other people more so today than ever. The brands will always want to do business with other brands. But people want to do business with people. That's why I think entrepreneurship here in the UK, it has to expand, it has to grow, it has to blow up in the next 3 to 5 years. Because if it doesn't, the UK is going to fall way behind, in terms of genuine entrepreneurial growth.
Chris On Growing A Virtual Team
You don't need to hire a VA full-time or even part-time to experience the power of outsourcing.
