Tuesday 27 May 2014

From The desk of Darren Hill

 
The missing ingredient...
 
Hi Dazza,

I recently was interviewed by Business Insider magazine for my thoughts on what are common things that growth businesses tend to overlook.* 

As I was chatting on the phone, I realised the key points I was making weren’t simply an issue for startups or growth businesses, but just as applicable for the established organisation. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I believe it applies to every business, whether you’re a solopreneur or a multinational. 

So you’re probably asking out loud at your desk what is this genius you’re referring to? Perhaps even with a commanding fist-thump on the desk to ensure if people walk past they think you’re not just crazy talking to yourself but gettin’ stuff done. 

Well brace yourself. Here ‘tis. 

A HUGE mistake all businesses make is that they market and story tell outside their business, but don’t work hard enough to market and story tell inside their business. 

Now don’t get me wrong, communicating to people outside your business - clients, customers and stakeholders - why you do-what-you-do is incredibly important. More specifically, communicating what drives us to do-what-we-do is how we build raving fans. That’s good, if you’re doing that well, don’t stop. 

But how well do you communicate this internally to your staff? How well as a leader do you communicate the story for your team?


Why sharing stories matters 

Most organisations try to implement the following equation 

Objectives = Outcomes 

For example 

Deliver higher profits (objective) by achieving higher sales (outcome) 

Yet the truth is this approach is hit and miss at best. Objectives don’t always transfer into outcomes, and in many cases can leave smart people scratching their heads in bewilderment. What the? 

Y’see here’s what the clever folk do. (there’s a very big difference between smart people and clever folk) Clever folk use the following equation 

Objectives > Narrative + Emotion = Outcomes 

Whilst our objective might be to deliver higher profits, what’s going to be the story that people can belong to and importantly contribute a verse to? Throughout history, great objectives have been achieved through a compelling narrative. Martin Luther King did it brilliantly by sharing his dream; Steve Jobs’ created a renaissance at Apple by getting them to think different; and Tony Hsieh did what no-one thought possible by getting a call centre to deliver happiness. 

They all did it through story. And they sold that story as hard internally - to their inner sanctum - as they did externally to the public. 

Sounds romantic, but it’s hard data 

While it all might sound a little fluffy, the truth is creating a narrative for a group to follow is bloody hard work. There’s no seven-simple-steps to creating a story that will capture the hearts and minds of people. It takes effort, creativity and an iterative process; you might not get it right the first time. 

But when you do land a story people can believe - and more importantly take ownership of and pass on - you get something magic happen.** 

Stories drive emotions. And emotions are the key driver for behaviour. And behaviour is how you get stuff done. And that’s cause for a little bit of high-fiving right there. ‘Cept if you’re an introvert; maybe it’s just a head nod from across the room. 

The process is all about face 

Not your actual face. About-face. Y’know, back to front. 

If you want to create a compelling story in your organisation, which in turn drives a collective emotion, you need to start by identifying the desired emotion first. By understanding what emotion you’re after, then you can find a story to fit. 

So which emotion do you want to achieve? It might sound a little daunting, but stick with me, I’ll make it easy. Come take my hand, this won’t hurt a bit... 

We’ve spoken in the past about the two primary emotions, Love and Fear. I would suggest that if you want people to follow, fear is eliminated from the game straight-up. So we just have love and it’s secondary emotional forms to choose from. Easy-peasy right? According to us, there’s only 8 you need to decide upon. 

Affection - an expression of fondness for another 
Courage - feeling uncomfortable - even fearful - yet choosing to act 
Care - anticipating another’s needs; to look after 
Joy - deep feeling of pleasure or happiness 
Optimism - confidence for the future; that tomorrow will be better 
Pride - a deep satisfaction of achievement; a high self-esteem 
Surprise - to deliver the unexpected or unusual 
Zest - to show great enthusiasm or energy 

So what emotion does your team or business need? Is it courage? Maybe people need to start taking risks...they’ve been doing the same stuff for too long. It worked for Jobs at Apple. 

Or perhaps it’s care? Your safety practices inside the organisation are slipping. Maybe you need your staff to be more considerate to customers. This emotion certainly served Martin Luther King brilliantly.
 
Or possibly your team could deliver pure joy to your customers like Tony Hsieh's culture does at Zappos. Now the whole world wants to know their 'secret' but in fact it's no secret at all; it's just a collective emotion. Powerful stuff, eh? 


Once you’ve decided on the emotion you want to see collectively embodied, then create the narrative in your own voice, not in someone else’s, in the language your people use each day. 

That’s how you turn objectives into outcomes. 

Alfveeder sayin’,
 
 

*Before you make any smart-alec response, I’m reliably told the article would actually be words n’ stuff, and not just pictures

**Actually it isn’t magic per-se, it’s tiny neurotransmitters firing in our synapses, but hey, magic probably sounds a whole bunch sexier 

Thursday 15 May 2014

Babyboomers are drowning in #hashtags & App's

A common challenge for us BabyBoomers is that we are drowning in a sea of #hashtags, @ and suffer a generalised lack of basic knowledge in a world which just keeps throwing curved balls at us. We have the money to purchase technology, we have the desire to learn but is the the challenge just too damn tough to see through?

The challenges are particularly noticeable when building a business from ground up...but wait...... didn't Babyboomers invent the computer and pioneer the fertile technology space? It is true that there are some very tech savvy Babyboomers out there, #Steve Jobs, #Bill Gates are obvious however I am talking about the layman, the guys like me, from home, who give it go!

So here are a few of the challenges I come face to face with every day.

#Facebook
Is it dead or is it alive? Is it really worth collecting "likes". Do people buy based on information they read on posts (apparently they do according to the so called experts) and adverts and what proportion of your marketing spend does it warrant.

Personally I believe it does attract buyers, clients, customers but this is almost impossible to measure based on the stigma attached to the social media portal, though once again I state, the experts will tell you otherwise.

Recently a good friend suggested that if you need Facebook to run a business then you don't have a business. Granted he was a #Babyboomer and as far as I know, he has never owned a business.

Do #Babyboomers understand it? Can they get their heads around the advertising mechanisms? No and No, quite simply put, for the "majority" (oh...... I am not talking about you tech savvy babyboomers) out there, it's just a way of keeping up to speed with friends and relo's "but you wouldn't use it for business"

#hashtags
"What the F$*k is a #hashtag and what do they do?" a friend almost shouted the other night over a beer. After a simple explanation, he looked at me with a glazed stare then went on a rave which brought down the whole fabric of the technology driven world we live in. I counted  30 f$*k's in the delivery as he displayed the collective frustration of a group of people sadly being left behind, gasping for air and drowning in #hashtags & App's.

Twitter
He continued "So tell me what then f$*k is Twitter all about? A million messages a f$*cking minute minute! Tell me what good that does anyone? I would rather watch the f$*cking news! Stick your Ipad's and your iPhones up your arse mate!"

Mmmmm, I did not have the heart to tell him that TV was a dying medium, it would have sparked another tirade with him vehemently denying any such claim.

Needless to say most #Babyboomers just don't get Twitter! Can't say I do fully, however I do find it a tremendous research too,  possibly the best connector out there. I can reach anyone, anywhere, anytime. Anonymity!  #Twitter and anonymity just don't go together in the same sentence.

Instagram
The conversation did not get this far but I can here him saying, "For f$8k's sake, not another bloody pain in the arse App!

Look I could go on all day. For example do you know how to get 30,000 #Twitter followers by following people daily and un-following the ones that did not follow you the next day only to follow more and so and so on day by day. It is quite easy if you know how, but I am not going to tell you how, you will have dive down the rabbit hole to discover these new frontiers.

What ever you do don't end up like my mate and say to heck with it, it is too hard, that is a big mistake. Stick to it and learn, ask questions and read read read!!!!

Tuesday 13 May 2014

Anthony Bonnici coaches & mentors


HOW WE CAN HELP


Anthony offers 3 types of coaching & mentoring:

Present Like a Star


Anthony helps remove your fear of getting in front of people and then gives you a process & toolkit to help you present like a star.

Remove a Brain Blinker


Anthony works intensively on helping you overcome your mental barrier through the Brain Blinkers IP and helps coach you to making real changes in your performance.

Personal Power: Executive Coaching


An intensive 5 month one on one program looking at core leader fundamentals such as trust, EI & influence. A must-do for people looking to make a big impact.

To secure the services of Anthony Bonnici; http://theentertainers.com.au/anthony-bonnici/

Tuesday 29 April 2014

Where Niche is King!

Here! Today! Now!

Seek niche ideas out, they are everywhere, anywhere and nowhere! Perhaps they are not as conspicuous as the real big dollar earners, they do exist none the less, are well worth the time spent researching and can reap great rewards. Form a habit of seeking "the niche"!

We run a two companies,  a Speaker Bureau, The Entertainers and a speaker management company Speakmark, two different beasts to be sure, hovering over the events industry and beyond.

The workload is often overwhelming, juggling the various aspects of running businesses, however always at the forefront of our thinking is "where are the niche ideas/speakers/events.?"

We are attracted to niche like a magnet, our conversation constantly revolves around it, we practice niche, we read niche, we spray it on like deodorant, we eat it for breakfast, niche is a habit worth forming!

Perhaps if I give you a first hand example of how this process worked for us recently.

While consuming the daily breakfast of fruit and coffee (my morning addictions), I mentioned to my wife and business partner Michelle Burgan that I had seen a LinkedIn post about a consultant by the name of Cynthia Dearin. I had admired Cynthia's presence and profile for a few years after coming into contact with the organisation that Cynthia was CEO of, the Australia Arab Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

I said to Michelle, "I believe Cynthia works in a niche area of business and commerce, perhaps we should contact her and see if she has representation with regards to speaking engagements."

Founder of Dearin & Associates and certainly doing some niche work around building Australian businesses intentionally, I called to enquire.

I had done my research, I knew that Cynthia was working in a niche market, the question I asked was "Are you looking to do more speaking work?"

An emphatic "yes" followed from Cynthia, with an equally emphatic "we would love to work with you", which has formed into a tidy working relationship between Cynthia Dearin and Speakmark.

Now while it is true that I am shamelessly plugging the amazing work that Cynthia Dearin does, which is assisting businesses find opportunities on the international stage-
  • Export strategy – helping our clients create or refine their export strategy so that they get the most out of the export         experience.
  • Cross-cultural management -  training and problem-solving for companies working outside Australia or with clients       and counterparts from abroad.
  • Strategic business connections – we facilitate links between projects and investors and put clients in touch with the       best networks and contacts in new markets.
- the real essence/lesson of this post is to always be on the look out for the  hidden gems which could be sitting right in front of our eyes.

Here is some good advice if you are struggling for ideas on how to create something from nothing.

Look up Nils Vesk, we have learnt much from both his teachings and his book Ideas with Legs, in fact buy the book it is just a fantastic guide to help you become upwardly mobile with your ideas. I guarantee that you will find ideas and methods in this book which will enable you monetize your ideas.

To sum up, with so much content coming at us from a a few dozen different sources, niche is definitely where it is at! If it is not niche then it is just harder, not impossible, to sell or market.

Look, look, look....try to see what no one else see's, this requires practice and you need to look harder to find the magic in the ordinary.

We live in a world where niche is KING!   Ohhh yes! Remember to look Cynthia Dearin up the next time you are looking for an excellent speaker!





The Incredible Mr Sebastian Terry

http://us7.campaign-archive1.com/?u=588829d2dcaeb0bf23f2bf2da&id=413c896c3e&e=271de6d5e0

Sebastian Terry is nothing short of amazing.

If you want inspiration check out his latest blog post!!!

AMZING DUDE!!!!!!!!

Sunday 27 April 2014

Launch of eBook "How to Book a Speaker"

LAUNCH OF EBOOK 28TH APRIL 2014

The information contained within is based purely on my experiences as a writer, producer, director, talent agent, Speaker employee, theatre restaurant owner and my current post, Managing Director and owner of the Speaker Bureau, The Entertainers Australia, and a whole lot of other experiences in between.

The contents of this document are a collection of thoughts and views gleaned from providing Speakers to our clients. I trust the document will become a useful reference on How to Book a Speaker. The order of the subject matter is in some instances arbitrary, while in others, the order of actions is completely crucial to a better all-round result for your effort. I do not advocate that our way is the right way! This document is merely a reference guide for those who are interested in booking talent, those who book Speakers as part of their work, and those looking to pursue a career in our industry.

One of the major reasons I wrote this document is simple. I was interested in finding out what information was available online regarding this subject matter, so I searched “How to Book A Speaker” online and up popped a number of Speaker Bureau advertisements. My thoughts turned to people who had recently entered the wonderful world of event management and I started looking for references and information on industry sites. Apart from a few scattered documents, I did not come up with anything as substantial as the document you are reading.

Now the world is a pretty big place, so perhaps my search was not as thorough as it could have been. There are also a few great books out of the US which teach for example, how to become a Speaker and work with Speaker Bureaus (Lilly & Dottie Walters “Speak and Grow Rich”2).

Certainly I do not claim this document to be the “holy grail” of how to book a Speaker. Perhaps also I will miss some salient point herein; I may even trip up now and again with regards to being perhaps a little awkward grammatically. What I can promise is a condensed, honest and transparent account of my experience as a Speaker Bureau owner.

I trust you will enjoy How To Book A Speaker. Please take what you can for your own purposes and please feel free to send me your feedback, good or bad, to this email address: enquire@theentertainers.com.au

How To Book A Speaker eBook now available for "FREE" dowmload

To download your free copy, simply go to www.theentertainers.com.au and see the right side of the home page, fill in the details and the book is yours.

Here are the acknowledgements which we always love reading.

------------------------------------------------------

When I examined the process of writing this eBook, I was quite surprised by the speed by which pages came together.

I was once told about a gentleman by the name of Malcolm Gladwell.   In his book “Outliers”, he describes “The Ten Thousand Hour Rule”, which describes that providing you have the fundamental basics right, you can reach greatness in any given field, by practicing tasks relevant to that chosen field for a total of ten thousand hours.

That law kept me going when times were tough! Let me say that I have not spent ten thousand hours on writing, but it’s the time that I have spent around talent, conferences, events, Theatre, Arts, as a Bureau Owner, Bureau Employee, Manager, Producer, Writer, Director, Theatre Owner and Event Coordinator.

The gentleman who shared this most valuable lesson with me was Lawrie Montague, a Keynote Speaker whom I worked with for a number of years.

In fact, had I missed the rare opportunity of spending time with someone like Lawrie, I would not be writing this book or running a Speaker Bureau called The Entertainers!

I thank you Lawrie more than you will ever know! I value our friendship greatly.

My wonderful wife and business partner Michelle Burgan, whose work ethic is a site to behold, I love you and thank you for your patience, intelligence and practical approach to challenges, which seem to me sometimes impossible. You are a star Michelle, our greatest asset and a wonderfully rounded and generous soul.

Fiona Wrigley, thank you for making straight my crooked writing. I have learnt that without an editor who understands the subject matter, what the writer is trying to say and what the reader needs to hear, the opportunity is lost. I look forward to working with you again on the next book.

To the Speakers who gave me feedback throughout the writing, Keith Abraham (CSP), Justin Baird, Tansel Ali, Sam McCool, thanks guys your feedback was invaluable.

Lastly, I want to thank my Father Terry Burgan (Snr) for being such a brilliant father and sympathetic ear. Eternally grateful to you for giving me the skills and personality that I am fortunate to have.