How To Connect From The Stage

October 10, 2018

A couple of years ago I sat in on a breakout session by Pete Vargas, III of Advance Your Reach when he spoke at the Ontraport Ontrapalooza conference.

Here are my key takeaways from his session…

  • First, be able to answer “What is my BHAG: Big Hairy Audacious Goal.” (You’ll see at that link that I have a love/hate relationship with BHAGs.)

  • You must know how to tell a great story.

  • Along those lines you need your own signature story. This is the story that separates you from the pack and you can tell in your sleep…and it connects and moves your audience.

  • Start with heart

    • Your personal hero’s journey story

    • Share how you’ve walked in their shoes

    • Head: 3-5 critical steps with story, data, and/or case studies

    • Hands:

      • CTA #1: quick win

      • CTA #2: Give them something of value for free

    • Heart: Full circle. Close the loop.

  • Scaling Beyond The Stage

    • Fee

    • Physical products

    • Digital products

    • Scaling offers

  • Platform

    • Coaching

    • Seminars

    • Services

    • Speaking

    • Sponsorship

    • Mission/Cause

    • Training + Consulting

    • Products

  • Types of Stages

    • Paid to speak

    • Speak to sell

    • Free stages

    • Stages that cost you

    • Your own event

  • Plenty of opportunities

    • 23,000 national associations

    • 100k+ state associations

    • 1 million local associations

    • For example, AASA.org is The School Superintendents Association

      • 50 State Chapters

      • 13,000 local school districts

      • All have monthly meetings

      • Buy them lunch and speak

  • The 4 C’s on how to find your stages (I caught two and made up two!)

    • Champions, i.e. those who believe in you

    • Cold, i.e. just get out there and make it happen

    • Customers/Clients. This is similar to Champions but they may have a precise in at their organization or association.

    • Commitment. Commit to yourself to tell your story until you become known. This will lead to more Champions, more Customers, and less Cold calling.

  • 10 Offline Stages

  • 10 Online Stages

  • Connect with meeting planners and get their contact info and date of the event

    • Stay in touch via multi-media, multi-step

    • Include video with your email so they can see you “perform”

      • I’m using Bonjoro and liking it a lot  

    • Include a link so the meeting planner can schedule a time to speak with you

    • Always start by complimenting them. (This is true in all settings when you are meeting someone.)

    • Talk about how you can solve a pain for their attendees. (Classic sales here. Solve the customer’s customer’s pain and you’ll win.)

    • Make sure you offer the old “win/win,” which goes without saying.

    • Include a clear call to action because if no action is called for, no action is taken

Need more help getting the word out and making every sale? Let’s talk.

Now go sell something.