Professionally Speaking

Robert Middleton drove down to the airport hotel from his home in the Santa Cruz mountains on Saturday to ask the National Speakers Association of Northern California if there was anyone in the room whose friends and acquaintances could answer three simple questions about our businesses:

Who is our ideal client?

What is the main problem we solve for our clients?

What outcome do we deliver to our clients?

No one in the room had confidence that our own friends knew what we did well enough to answer these questions. No one in the room therefore had solved the fundamental marketing problem: that people just plain don't know what we do or see in the value in what we offer.

Middleton took us through the solutions to the four biggest marketing problems: how to get people's attention; deliver the information they need; provide an experience of the solutions we offer and, finally, submit a proposal asking for business.

It's critical that we can articulate these messages according the correct marketing syntax. Syntax honors the order in which information is presented. Most small businesses (and many large ones) mix up the syntax and unknowingly communicate a different meaning. The letters that spell A-R-T are mixed up to spell R-A-T.

A rat first tells people all about their solutions without communicating basic information about who they work with, the challenges customers face, what outcomes delivered and what action steps people can take to engage with us. The artful know what to say first.

The beauty of Middleton's methodology is that these principles can be learned and applied to the way we discuss our business when we first meet people (engaging them conversationally rather than delivering a stilted 'elevator pitch') as well as to our website design, written proposals, sales letters or even - Lordy sakes! - to the way a local Chapter of a Speakers Association might recruit new members. Now there's an idea.

I caught up with Robert after lunch and asked him to explain how his methods are used by communications professionals. To hear what he told me, click on the podcast icon below.

My third and final interview at the ANZAtechnet Conference was with Raphe Patmore of Perth-based Buzka.

His product blew me away!

If you are a subject matter expert, information marketeer, frustrated blogger looking for a quick way to snarf content or otherwise interested in building a vibrant online community of clients by offering structured access to information, then you really must check out Buzka.

But wait! There's more! As well as being a handy-dandy way of collating content from the far reaches of the internet the Buzka "Spot" you create (for free!) will drive your Google rankings sky-high. Check it out. Search on 'Chinese Stuff' and in the top 10 listings you'll see Wei's Chinese Stuff Spot - a Buzka site.

Other examples of Buzka sites can be found by using the 'Search' button or browsing this listing of Interests. A couple I liked were this Guide to London and this guide to Learning French.

Don't make the mistake of dismissing Buzka as a simple 'bookmark publishing' app or another Digg.

I was recently impressed by the flexible social networking aspects of Ning - which allow information brokers to build a client base. But it seems small scale and somewhat walled off. Not so Buzka.

The true power of the product (listen up, NSA members) is by investing a couple of grand for a private label version, like this very cool surfing site. Nice, huh? Look at all the user generated content on 'Your stories', and the extensive catalogs on 'Clothing and Accessories'. I can imagine many niche markets responding well to filtered, organized information on a Buzka Spot - who knows, they might well value the expertize of the person delivering this information enough to stick around and see what else you have to offer.

Enough of my rambling. To hear Raphe discuss his product, well, you know what to do...

The second of my ANZAtechnet Gateway to the US Conference interviews is with Jennifer Lyons-Reid of the video production and training company tallstoreez.

Their innovative program, Directing the Hero Within, is a South Australian video skills training initiative to support young people to make films "by, for, and about" themselves.

Participants develop professional digital media skills, to support creativity, self-confidence, teamwork skills and social awareness. The "tallstoreez productionz" team promotes the Positive Minds Attract message during their workshops with hundreds of young people across Australia, contributing to a lively and sustainable regional and metropolitan youth media network.

I asked if their video skills program would be of use to professional speakers and others who wish to create promo material using high quality video with a strong storytelling aspect. Guess what the answer is?

To find out, click on the podcast icon below.

I spent the afternoon at the annual ANZATechnet Gateway to the US Conference in Sunnyvale where a dozen of Australia's most innovative companies present their solutions. Their goal is to break into the US market, find partners or investors, or just build out their global network and showcase their offerings.

In this interview, the first of three, I talk with Tod Pedlar, the Founder and CEO of Centricminds. This Adelaide-based company has both Enterprise and Small Business web collaboration software. I ask Tod how their small business package could be used by the professional speakers or trainers who are members of the National Speakers Association who wish to develop flexible websites with rich publishing and collaboration features.

I was surprised to hear that anyone can download their software for free, test out a website or blog and then for just a few thousand dollars, launch and fully-featured professional website. Many of us know of individuals and organizations who have spent tens of thousands on web designers and programmers and still don't have a site they can really use. If you are one of those unfortunates, check out the Centricminds website and take their Convurge package for a trial run.

To listen to the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

Sausalito resident Kare Anderson invited my wife Sandra over to discuss marketing her new business College Steps. This once "phobically shy" Emmy-winning TV commentator - turned public speaker - knows how to communicate to connect. She's the publisher of the international Say It Better E-Zine. She's the author of several books, including Getting What You Want - Resolving Conflict Sooner - Walk Your Talk and Beauty Inside Out.

She's a trailblazer in media, business and politics. A former journalist for the Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, UPI, and other newspapers, Kare has worked in the telcommunications industry, co-founded of a national public affairs and advertising firm and is now president of the Communicate to Center. In government, she was a state senator's chief of staff, co-founder of nine political action committees and appointed commissioner. Kare's a frequent strategic communication coach to leaders in business and government.

I asked Kare what she thinks the biggest mistakes corporate executives make when they speak in front of audiences and what concrete advice she would give someone who wants to 'Say it Better'.

To hear her advice, click on the podcast icon below.

Disability Awareness expert Gary Karp is an internationally recognized author, keynote speaker, trainer, and facilitator.

Gary injured his spinal cord in a fall from a tree in 1973 at the age of eighteen, paralyzing him from the hips down. He has lived a full personal and professional life since his injury. Having earned a graduate degree in architecture, Gary worked for eleven years in the presentation graphics industry as a designer and production manager. In 1993 he began providing ergonomics training and consultation services to companies in the San Francisco Bay Area where he lives with his wife Paula.

He is the author of four books: Life On Wheels: For the Active Wheelchair User, Choosing A Wheelchair: A Guide For Optimal Independence, From Here to There: Stories of Adjustment to Spinal Cord Injury and Disability & the Art of Kissing: Questions and Answers on the True Nature of Intimacy. All four are widely-reviewed as definitive guides for people with disabilities.

I caught up with Gary during a break at the September NSA/NC Pro-Track program and we discussed how Pro-Track has focused his career as well as the plans he has for October, which is National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

To listen to the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

Originally from New York, Howard has lived in the Bay Area for over 20 years. After spending many years in the corporate world, as a trainer, consultant and project manager, Howard opened his own company, Fulcrum Point.

Howard's talks emphasize how the strength of a company, team or department starts within each person. Each person has the power to shift their negative beliefs to positive, resulting in challenges being turned into opportunities. Howard uses personal stories as well as professional successes to emphasize the challenge.

In this interview Howard discusses his experience of the NSA/NC Pro-Track program and previews his upcoming book Your Full of Shift, which demonstrates the power of shifting our attitudes and how any moment a negative experience can be turned into a miraculous one.

To listen to the interview, click on the podcast icon below.

Gary is an employee and board member of Ascribe CopyWriting Services. He specializes in intellectual information products and writes on personal growth and development.

Gary has a background in military intelligence, context research and ethnological consensus statistics. After moving to Northern California from New York in April 2000, Gary later met National Speakers Association past-president Patricia Fripp and was immediately smitten with her ability to transform any topic into a masterful presentation. Fripp took Gary under her wing and taught him to fly! As a result, he joined the Northern California NSA Pro-Track program.

I talked to Gary about the direction he plans to take his business in, his experiences with Pro-Track as well as the impact meeting Fripp has had on his career.

To listen, click on the podcast icon below.

On Tuesday July 10th I hosted a 'Birds of a Feather' meeting on Blogging at the National Speakers Association annual Convention in San Diego.

We started the meeting with around ten people in the room. By the end we had an audience of over 35 people interested in blogging. About 70% already had a blog. The panel consisted of myself, Rebecca Morgan and Kim Snider.

The podcast below is the full hour-long audio of the meeting. Since this is a LONG podcast, you might prefer to choose the Download option (right click and 'Save Link As') rather than listen to it all now.

The first 30 minutes are the panel explaining their approach to blogging. The last half-hour is a discussion with the audience who raised questions on:

How to understand RSS feeds?

How often should a blogger post updates?

Will blogs replace eZines?

Can you build a whole website in Wordpress?

Should we hold a professional speakers 'Blog Carnival'?

Plus much, much more.

Sites referenced in the discussion include:

Ian Griffin's Blog: Professionally Speaking

Rebecca Morgan's Blog: Grow Your Key Talent

The Dating Goddess: Adventures in Delicious Dating After 40

Kim Snider's Blog: Kimmunications

Kim Snider's Other Blog: The Snider Insider

Jason Kotecki: Escape Adulthood

To join the Yahoo Group for NSA Bloggers:

Click to join nsa_bloggers

Listen in on a fascinating discussion on blogging by some of the world's pre-eminent professional speakers. Click on the podcast icon below.

Every night when the speeches and awards end, the bar closes and the majority of NSA Members are tucked up in bed dreaming of miles of aisles, there's only one place left to party, network, grab a drink or three and enjoy a stogie: the private suite where the Cigar PEG meets. The idea of a Cigar PEG (a PEG in NSA-speak is a "Professional Expert Group") originated in 1998 by chairperson and chief party animal Ed Rigsbee. This year the Cigar PEG hosted a fantastic party aboard the USS Midway as well as their open-bar suite in Room 477 at the hotel.

Ed and his Cigar PEG colleagues offer people an opportunity to unwind after a busy day at the convention. The $75 membership fee and the monies raised by the various auctions go toward charity.

For a complete background on the Cigar PEG, including photo galleries of members enjoying life, visit their website. If you plan to attend the 2008 convention in New York City and want to avoid paying $7 for well drinks at the hotel bar, consider joining the Cigar PEG. Do the math.

Click on the podcast icon below to hear Ed share his views on the value of the Cigar PEG.