Episode 58 Transcript

Heather 

Hello, welcome to episode 58. So I thought I'd do a little BTS behind the scenes sort of episode here on just what it's like to prepare to speak at an event. So I'm speaking at an event and an expo in just a few days, actually like two days from now I'm gonna be on stage. And I thought it'd be fun to just share the prep, you know, what goes into preparing for something like that. 

 

And this is not just me showing up and speaking for an hour, there's actually an expo, like a trade show element in there as well. So there's a bit more prep going on. So I'm sure if you are, if you're a speaker, like if you guys have already spoken on stage or journey of that, you're probably totally gonna be able to relate with some of the stuff I'm about to say. And if you're absolutely horrifying to speak and you're one of those people that's like, that's my worst fear, I think you're absolutely crazy to put your hand up and speak Heather, what is up with you?

 

Then stay tuned because it might be kind of fun for you to hear what happens, even if you're never gonna set foot on a stage, it's kind of interesting, right, to hear how other people do things in their business. So where am I speaking? So I'm based in Sydney, Northern Beaches of Sydney in Australia, and I am going up to Queensland, to the Gold Coast, which is like, for me, it's just over an hour flight. I kind of similar to like California when I used to fly from San Diego up to San Francisco or Sacramento because my parents are outside of Sacramento. It's a similar sort of like distance. So I am going up to B exponential in the Gold Coast tomorrow and it's basically a two-day event with a trade show and multiple speakers. So the first night is on Sunday. There's like basically and then there's a kickoff cocktail networking party. And then the next day is speaking. And then I'm on stage that first day just before lunch. Thank God it's just before lunch, by the way. Speaking after lunch is very hard work because the audience is like full bellies and they go to sleep on you. So it's just before lunch I'm speaking for a 40 minute session. So nothing crazy, I'm more used to doing 90 minutes. So that's before lunch. And then there is like a gala dinner and award ceremony that night. So on Monday night, there's a ceremony. And it's so cute. They sent me the like little flow of the award ceremony because I got a ticket as a speaker to go to this black tie event in the Star Casino in Gold Coast. And I'm like, my name's on it as a presenter of awards. I'm like, oh wow, okay, cool. So there you go. I am speaking and teaching and then I'm also doing presenting awards to local businesses. So I'm doing that as well.

 

And then there's a day two, which is more speaking as well. I'm not speaking on that day. So I decided to go for the entire time and have a table at the expo to promote my business website love as well as speak and be involved. So with all that in mind, now you guys got a little bit of the backstory. Let me tell you about the prep. What has gone into this so far? So I wanted to do something quite fun for the trade show element. So I got cookies, like actually baked goods, cookies from professional bakery of course, to put on our table for the trade show. So they're heart cookies, with like little frosting on them and they're in like shortbread, like vanilla shortbread as well as ginger... It's called gingerbread. Like ginger snap, gingerbread. And it says the words website love on them. They're delicious by the way. Those kinds of cookies are not great, but my partner and I have been we've eaten three of them already between us.

 

So got the cookies because I thought it'd be really fun to lay out a whole bunch of those on the table in the trade show. And I also learned that trade shows, if you give food, people come to you. So there's that. I got some branded stickers made, which I absolutely love. There's two of them. One that says I am on the top row and then unstoppable on the bottom row. Really cool colors, really bold. There's circles. You can stick them on your computer. And then it just has like our logo at the bottom. 

 

And the other one is don't be an ASKhole. And that is, like either you know what it is or you don't, but basically it means, especially in service businesses, I suppose any business, it means like, or just in life. You're the person or the customer is the person that asks lots of questions or asks for your advice and never takes it. Don't be an asshole. But unfortunately, they were supposed to, the stickers were supposed to be like the first thing to me, but they're still not here. 

 

So I can't bring them, I'm so bummed they're not I'm going to miss they're going to miss me by one day. So I have like this incredible box of stickers that I'll be passing out on my next events that I go to. So I got that. I got a roll up banner as well. You know, those banners you like pull up and roll up because obviously that is going to sit to be standing out in front of the expo, like my trade show table. So I got that. Everything's branded together too. So that banner is branded. It has like

 

It's like reds and dark blues and it has like all these little speech bubbles with quick testimonials from our incredible community of clients. It has a QR code in it. It has like catchy red headlines and all that. So I have that printed that I have matching ads that are in the B exponentials like workbook or workbook, worksheet thing that you get as a participant. So there's a one pager in that matches the banner.

 

And then I also got postcards printed that also match the banner, also match the ad. All you see is like this, this red and Navy and lots of like cute little speech bubbles and all of our clients saying wonderful things about us. And then there's a QR code on all of them, um, promoting a three second rule test. So big part of what we do is we build websites, um, website love does, and there's a certain formula for, you know, getting conversions on your site. So you need it to load really fast. You need to have good credibility, really quick pathways for people to take action with you. So we're going to do this little test on everybody's site who feels scans the QR code and then fills out a form to get it. So I have like the same branding across the banner, the postcards in the, um, like the workbook sort of thing for the event as well. Now, now I got the QR code, right? 

 

So I got the QR code, of course, what's going to happen once they scan it? So I had to create a landing page on our website. So a page on our website where people can go to fill their details into a form to request the three second rule test on their website. When they scan the QR code. So that was the page that had to be built from there, and I had to create an email sequence with the CRM system. So I had to link my database tool into the form on the page. So when people fill in the form, they go into my database tool and they get a series of emails to basically promote our business, our services, next steps, how the test is gonna work, task our sales guy to follow up, all that sort of stuff so they are looked after. So we got that. And there's the systems to handle all of it, right? So I'm still working on that, by the way. So when somebody requests one of these tests, I'm still working out the best way to give them their results. So that's all happening, okay? Then we got the travel bit, which is, and by the way, that's very, like that stuff right there is probably for any speaker. They have to worry about this stuff, right? So they, not necessarily the cookies, the stickers, some do, but that sort of promotion, like if you're in an event, where do you send people? Are you following up with them? Do you have good systems? So that's one step. And then the other bit is the travel bit. So we have organized flights, of course, for myself and for my head of sales, Adam. So we're flying, and he's flying in from Melbourne. I'm flying in from Sydney to the Gold Coast.

 

And so that was organized. The hotel was organized. Thanks also shout out to Prue on the team who helped find the best flights in hotel. Now, got that next. Oh, the tablecloth, of course. So at the expo, all they give you is the bare ugly table and you need to bring stuff to put on top of it. So I got the cookies. Unfortunately, I don't have the stickers, but I got the postcards, got the banner. So red tablecloth. So I went rumbling around in our linen closet.

 

And I found this beautiful red tablecloth I spent a lot on years and years and years ago. I'm talking years ago, you guys. The last time I used this thing was when I promoted the billionaire adventure club, which I used to run. Um, I've talked about it in previous episodes. I talked about in one about actually Mongolia where it took members to Mongolia. Um, but anyway, it was a club that I used to run where we bring entrepreneurs to developing countries to share our resources and our networks and money and funds. So I had this on the table that I used to sell memberships for the billionaire adventure club. I think the last time was to South Africa, where we went to visit the Branson, like as in Richard Branson Center of Entrepreneurship. So this little tablecloth hasn't seen the light for like 12, 13 years. So I got it, have it out, got to steam it and iron it and all that sort of fun.

 

Now of course, time to think about what to wear. Yes, it gets even crazier. So now with that, I, there's, um, the cocktail thing that kicks the whole event off. So I basically playing around with things. I pulled out like a little singlet with sequences on it. And my partner's like, what are you doing? You prepping for a disco? Just kind of disco vibe. And then there's the formal award ceremony. And normally I just kind of maybe stick on something a little bit more casual, but.

 

I'm presenting awards. So, okay, I've got to work something out. For anyone that knows me, I am not like a formal girl anymore. I used to be more fashionista, but I'm not. I work from home and I'm pretty much into, I like fashion and style, but I'm not like always like dressing up. So I found a dress in my wardrobe. The last time I wore it, four years ago, I'm thinking I'm hoping it's going to fit and look okay. And I pulled that out.

 

Bang, it looks fine. Got some shoes I can pair with it. Simple black dress with like lacy bits on it. So we got the formal thing tick. We got the disco top tick. You know what? I still do not know what I'm gonna wear for my talk. We'll work that out like when I'm packing. So then I got the talk. There's prep for that too, right? So luckily I've spoken like a few hundred, several times. I don't, several hundred times. I don't even know, like a lot.

 

You know, I speak on stages, I teach at the Center for Continuing Education at University of Sydney, I teach on behalf of Metta, aka Facebook, so I'm comfortable on stage. But there's always prep. You got to do your slides, you got to work out your talk. And my talk for this event is called The Blueprint to Social Media ROI, because we do social media work in my agency as well. So, like literally just finished that.

 

And now I'm recording this with you guys and I'm about to take a walk and then pack and do all that sort of stuff. And lastly, of course, I need to let my team members know because they have to hold down the fort for me for two days when I'm on stage and then networking and everything. So I'm not very accessible. So I'm literally going to be living on my phone by my Slack app, which is like a texting app and my project management tools as well. There's way more than that. I'm sure no doubt that I have left out, but that is to give you a solid perspective on what can go into just a person showing up at an event to speak and or being involved in the networking side of things as well. It's a lot to think about, isn't it? So there you go. I hope that was kind of fun. I don't know, just giving you a piece of what's going on in my life. So I think the main thing I want to leave with you in this episode is that expanding your network and getting out of your little spot in the world is really important.

 

Especially if you run your business from home and you're very comfortable in that little environment that you have, learning different perspectives is really important. And that's why I love to teach and speak. I mean, I like the teaching part of speaking, but I really like to hear what others have to say. I like the questions that they ask so I can stay sort of on top of what the pain points are, what's happening in the industry, meet other speakers, meet other business owners.

 

And I guess really fitting in the anti-hustle culture that this podcast is, it is a good way of spending time in one room with a whole bunch of people watching you, a good leverage point, right? Because in that moment, you're doing that one to many model where you can truly share a message with a lot of people and have a stand and a table and hopefully talk to a lot of people there too, and grow your business through one simple act of being in an event environment. So that is it. Hopefully you got some fun or a few laughs. Those of you that have spoken or not spoken, you might still think you're crazy. Why are you doing this? But either way, it was really fun to have this conversation with you. And I'll see you next time. I'll see you on the other side. Bye, you guys.