We were pitching them on the idea of getting involved with a campaign that we run for our charity called Write To Give (www.WriteToGive.com).

Getting this kind of opportunity isn’t easy and admittedly, we were nervous.

But here’s what we learned from this experience…

Our meeting started off with general pleasantries and a quick intro.

Then we got into the heart of the matter and began working through our presentation.

Between the two of us, Amy and I had spent hundreds of hours preparing for this and had rehearsed what we were going to say over and over.

As we were going along I truly felt like we were doing a great job but we weren’t getting the “I’m in, where-do-I-sign” kind of reaction.

Then we had “technical difficulties” – the slideshow froze (AHHHH!).

Amy (my wife) was smooth as silk as she immediately shifted gears by using our “downtime” to share a couple of stories while I scrambled to get the PowerPoint back up.

In hindsight, this was actually a blessing.

Here’s why…

As I rebooted my computer and got the slides back up, Amy had grabbed the attention of these top executives by sharing meaningful stories that connected what we were doing with the Write To Give campaign to the children and families that were impacted by this program.

Stories like how one of our first Write To Give presentations motivated a group of Kindergartens to give us $0.25 following our talk on what $0.15 really means to their friends in Africa.

Or how our chance encounter with a young man named King William has resulted in a relationship where he has now made thousands and thousands of bracelets for our charity – helping him build a thriving business in his home of Ghana and providing all our kids in Canada with an authentic, hand-made momento.

Or how delivering the Write To Give books to the children authors in Canada is SO rewarding because seeing the pride they experience when opening their book and seeing their name published as a co-author.

It’s these stories that demonstrate the true meaning of what we have accomplished with this campaign and these are the kinds of things that got the best results (a couple of the ladies were even close to tears!).

—

Finally when I got everything back up and running, I could see that everyone was more relaxed and a conversation had begun.

I jumped in and began sharing a few more stories, cracked a few jokes and before we knew it, what was supposed to be a 30 minute presentation had blossomed into 90+ minutes of brainstorming, questions and genuine interest of how our two organizations could work together.

Amy and I walked out of that meeting feeling on top of the world and forever grateful that we even had a chance to meet with this amazing group of women and we SO look forward to working with them in the near future.

—

Here’s what I learned from this experience…

At the end of the day, people are people.

Whether they are the CEO of a billion dollar company or local paper boy delivering your morning paper, everyone has feelings, emotions and perceptions.

The fastest way to really connect with your audience (whether it’s one person or 10,000) is to open yourself up and share stories from the heart.

Show that you’re human.

People connect with people NOT slides.

At the end of the day, our slides did look good (and they asked to have a copy!) but it was the stories that we shared where we made our deepest connection.

—

What are your thoughts?

Has anyone ever shared a “story” in conversation that really moved you to take action?

If so, let us know about it in the comments

If you’ve ever flown into Memphis there is something you’ve likely witnessed.

For me, this “thing” is a great reminder of the kind of hurdles we face as entrepreneurs – and how to overcome them.

Let me explain…

As our plane began approaching the runway, I couldn’t but help notice the hundreds and hundreds of FedEx planes all neatly organized just beyond the Memphis airport.

It’s really impressive when you think about the fact that all those planes are dedicated to one company.

What’s even more impressive is that the founder of this highly successful company (Fred Smith) was told that his idea was “good but not practical”.

In fact, it’s well documented that he was given a “C” on his college term paper where he outlined the idea for this business.  Here’s a good article from BusinessWeek that profiles Fred Smith.

Now almost 30+ years later, FedEx has operations in virtually every corner of the world and delivers an average of 5.5 million packages A DAY!

The “C” wasn’t the only hurdle Fred faced in the beginning.

Low volume, postal monopolies, and airline regulations all contributed to a near bankruptcy during it’s early days.

Then with a stroke of luck, while in Vegas Fred won $27,000 which proved to be enough money to keep the company alive.

The rest as they say, is history.

—

Seeing all those planes is impressive but it’s also a reminder to every entrepreneur that YOU WILL FACE OBSTACLES.

Building a successful business won’t be easy.

But…

When you have a good idea, lots of persistence and the determination to make it work, you can achieve greatness.

Kudos to Fred for believing in himself and his idea.

Now get out there and kick some butt with our own ideas

Backstory…

I’ll admit… I’ve always been fascinated by human behavior.

It’s probably the reason I love marketing so much.  The more we know about how people make certain decisions, the better we can position our products to meet their needs.

That’s why the book “Predictably Irrational” by Dan Ariely was so fascinating to me.  It’s all about how we make completely irrational decisions when “triggered” by certain factors.

I recently found a couple videos where Dan describes what he found in his research…

For example, Dan did a variety of experiments with the concept of “FREE”.  For example, how we will pick an option we don’t even want just because it’s free.

Another great example had to do with packaging and pricing of the magazine The Economist.  It was amazing to see what subscription package people would select based on how each package was positioned.

We can learn SO much as business owners just by looking and understanding how people make decisions.

That’s why I’m VERY excited to interview Dan to discuss what all his research means to us as business owners.

NOTE:  If you have questions yourself, let me know by submitting them here.  I’ll try to work as many of them into the interview as I can.

In the meantime, here are a couple videos where Dan explains some of these in further depth…

They’ll tie their marketing into annual events or holidays because it gives them a good “reason” to create a new promotion.

However, you rarely see online entrepreneurs do this.

Why?

Not sure.

But it can be very effective because it gives you another reason to connect with your customers and prospects.

Here is a great example that demonstrates how one company has nicely tied a promotion into an event that will be in the minds of millions around the world…
.

The World Cup is one of the world’s premiere sporting events that captivates millions (some project billions) around the world every four years – and I’m definitely one of those people!

But what is interesting is seeing how certain companies “tie into” this event.

That’s why I was intrigued when I received this in my inbox:

It’s a great example of how MINI is jumping on the excitement and pride that people feel for their favorite countries participating in the World Cup.

Notice how the offer (custom roof decals) “fits” very nicely with the event.  It’s relevant to what is going on and the product/offer would be attractive to those passionate about the World Cup.

For example, an offer of “It’s the World Cup so get 25% off” just doesn’t have the same impact as the MINI one above.

Make sense?

They’ve done a nice job of also showing the customer of what it would look like by providing some simple visuals.

They key with the visuals is just by looking at it, you “get” the offer.

So next time you are constructing a new promotion, take a look at what else happening.

What already has the attention of people in your marketplace?

Could you build on top of that?

Current events are an excellent source of promotion ideas but their effectiveness largely depends on how well you are able to make your offer relevant to what’s happening.

What other events have you seen companies tie into with their marketing?

Share your thoughts, ideas and comments below!

Now this isn’t a sad post because Ray wouldn’t want that at all.

But during his life celebration, something interesting began happening that I think we can all learn from…

Instead of a funeral, Ray wanted his family to rent a hall for a couple hours and allow everyone to have a few drinks on him (which was a classic Ray idea).

So true to his wish, the Antoniolli’s held a life celebration for Ray and people came in droves.

We pulled up about 5 minutes before it was scheduled to start and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of cars.  In fact, we couldn’t get a “regular” parking spot as we had join those parking way down the street.

It immediately gave you a sense that Ray obviously had an impact on a lot of people (or they were just coming for the free drinks – but Ray would have wanted that anyway LOL).

Once we got inside, I was blown away by all the people.  Hundreds and hundreds of people had come to pay their respects and they kept coming and coming.

In fact, the initial hall filled so quickly that they had to open another pavilion just to accommodate everyone.

Now I could go on and share how Ray was such a great guy and this was the reason everyone came.

Although that’s true, it goes deeper than that.

Let me explain…

As more and more people tried to squeeze into the hall, a number of close friends were given the chance to say a few words (my Dad included).

And as each person began to share a few stories, one thing became blatantly obvious…

Ray was a master at making memories.

Each story has it’s own funny twist but yet everyone there recognized right away that this was another classic Ray Antoniolli story.

He had a unique ability to take an ordinary situation and make it memorable.  And it was those memories that everyone cherrished (myself included).

It’s difficult to put into words the kind of person Ray was but what is easy to understand is why there were so many people at his life celebration.  All of us in attendance felt a deep bond with him because at some point in time he had created a unique memory with each of us.

And as person after person shared their unique memories, you couldn’t help but smile as their story triggered another memory of your own time with Ray.

It’s those memories that immediately strengthen a bond between two people.

.

So what can we all learn from this?

1)  Make Memories

It’s one of the most effective ways to connect with people.  And if the memory is good, people won’t ever forget it – so make it good!

The plus side for any business is that these people will also likely “share” the memory with others.

For example, last summer Mini (the car company) held a HUGE event for all Mini Cooper owners in the area.   Hundreds and hundreds of Mini owners (myself included) drove into downtown Toronto where they played host to an outdoor evening extravaganza.

It was a blast driving down the highway behind hundreds of other Mini owners and then you couldn’t but help have a HUGE smile on your face as we drove into the outdoor complex where the event was being held.

There were outdoor concerts, giveaways and of course the night ended with everyone sitting in their Mini’s to watch the Italian Job on the big screen (the chase screen was the best as we were all honking!).

That’s a GREAT example of a company “making memories”.

…AND…

I just shared it with you (as I have many others) which proves that people like sharing great memories

Here are a couple pics:

2)  Take The “Ordinary” and Make It “Extraordinary”

There was never a “dull” moment when Ray was around and that’s because he consciously made the effort to inject fun into everything he did.

For example, our last get together just a few months ago involved an accordion, playing spoons and many group sing-a-longs.  The best part was, everyone was involved (including kids, parents, neighbors and anyone else that wondered in LOL).

He was also known to give people funny nicknames and create silly annual events that people began marking on their calendars every year.

So the next time you are looking to do a “normal” business activity like a teleseminar, live event or contest, take some time to think about how you could make it 10X more fun.

Yanik Silver does a good job of this with his Underground Seminars.  Each one always has a unique theme, guest speaker or twist.

You can do the same.  Just tap into your creative juices because when people laugh and have a great time, it creates a memory – and it’s those memories that will build a strong bond between you and your customers.

3)  Involve Others In Your Shenanigans

I think the best part about everyone sharing their memories of Ray was hearing about all the crazy things everyone did when they were with him.

75% of those people would never normally do anything like that by themselves.

Ray had a unique gift of bringing the best out of people.  One young gal shared a story of how she always wanted to go cliff diving but she never had the courage to jump.

Then while up at the Antoniolli’s cottage, Ray took her to the best spot and coached her through it.

In typical Ray style, he said “Jump out as far as you can because if you don’t, you might hit the rocks and your Mum probably won’t like that”.

We all laughed because Ray always had a wicked sense of humor.  But the special part of that story is that his encouragement worked and she jumped.  She ended her story by saying that after that jump she knew she could conquer anything from that day forward – and that was thanks to Ray.

Isn’t that an incredible gift to give someone?

Sometimes I think people “want” to do different things but they need a little encouragement.

Involve others and get them out of their comfort zone.  They’ll thank you for it afterwards – just like we all did with Ray.

.
4)  Revisit The Memories Often

This was a lesson I learned from leadership expert John Maxwell but I was reminded of it’s power during Ray’s celebration.

Instead of this gathering being sad, it was full of laughter and cheer as we reminensed of the good times with Ray.

Sure we cried.

But they were a different kind of tears.

I think more than anything we were all just so thankful to have had the time we shared with Ray and hearing everyone recount their time with him just reinforced that fact.

When you revisit good memories you immediately bring back all those good feelings.  The laughter, joy, adrenaline or pride all come rushing back.  It makes you feel good and people like feeling good

So when you create memories, share it with others.

Use your blog, newsletter or videos to capture the experience and then share it again so that others can enjoy it.  More importantly, those people who you created the memories with will be reminded of how much they enjoyed that time with you (if that isn’t marketing I don’t know what is).

—

Ray Antoniolli was a GREAT man.

He will be dearly missed by myself, my family and thousands of others who he managed to touch in his own special way.

But above all, I want to thank him for giving me so many great memories and reminding me of the importance of continually creating new ones.

Thanks Ray!

—

Do you have examples of companies or individuals creating great memories?

Share them below in the comments – I know I’d love to hear them

It’s brought me more focus, more energy and more clarity regarding what it means to be a successful entrepreneur.

All of this has resulted in my best year of business.

So what is this “something” that has transformed my business?

Watch the video below for details:

A social entrepreneur is someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas a business entrepreneur typically measures performance in profit and return, a social entrepreneur focuses on creating social capital. Thus, the main aim of social entrepreneurship is to further social and environmental goals.
- Source:  Wikipedia, definition of “Social Entrepreneurship“

Pictures From Our Recent Trip To Kenya

Our charity (World Teacher Aid) has been involved with a number of schools and orphanages throughout Kenya and during this trip we were visiting our projects and meeting the people, kids and new communities we will be working with.  Plus, we will be getting ready to begin construction on our first school in Kenya!

A little girl from one of the schools/orphanages we support

One of my favorite pics of the kids in school

Every year we visit this little guy ALWAYS has a smile on his face!

Mumma Tunza started the orphanage and school

Outside with Mumma Tunza

Playing a little soccer with the kids

Having a little fun with the kids

Visiting a new school we are helping at an IDP camp

This is where a IDP community of roughly 400 families live

Amy getting to know the kids from one of our new schools

The building site of our new school (construction begins soon!)

The “mud homes” of the new IDP community we’ll be helping

Amy meeting the Chairman of the IDP community we are working with

Look at those smiles… I LOVE meeting these kids

Getting to know the new community we’ll be helping

Soccer is my way of instantly connecting with the kids.  It’s always a
thrill giving them a new soccer ball!

Pictures From Our Recent Trip To Uganda

During this trip to Africa we had the priviledge of visiting the school we’ve been working with in Uganda.  This was the first time we have ever met everyone from this school even though we’ve been working with them for several years.  It was a blast getting to know the teachers and kids and look forward to coming back and seeing the progress of the new projects we began on this trip.

Meeting the cow we recently bought for the school

Watching the kids play soccer with the teachers of our school

The school we support in Uganda

Amy discussing our projects with Angelo (school founder)

Amy and I speaking with the students of the school

The kids showing off their new soccer gear (THANKS KATHY TOON!)

Handing over some goodies to Angelo and Moses

Kids reading the books published through our Write To Give program

Don’t these kids just make your heart melt?

The school soccer pitch

Trying some traditional Ugandan lunch

LEFT:  The girls showing me how to play “netball”
RIGHT:  Going to sell some bananas

The boys playing some soccer in their new gear

Pictures From Our Gorilla Trek (Uganda)

Each time we visit Africa Amy and I always try to see something new.  This time we decided to take a couple days and go on a Gorilla Trek.

It was AMAZING and I highly recommend it.  The drive up also proved to be interesting as well.

Those aren’t horns, these are horns!  LOL

Pit stop at the Equator

Amy saying “hi” from our safari truck

After 7 hours of an intense mountain trek, we found the gorillas!

I guess you’d call this “Gorilla Marketing” LOL

This is the youngest gorilla in the world right now (4 months)

How cute is this?

As always, there were plenty of Baboons

On our drive up to our Gorilla Trek we encountered a family of 12 elephants!

]]> http://myideaguy.com/becoming-a-social-entrepreneur/feed/ 23 http://myideaguy.com/what-is-this/ http://myideaguy.com/what-is-this/#comments Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:21:19 +0000 Stu McLaren http://myideaguy.com/?p=718 We all have tips, tricks and strategies we’ve learned to become a better entrepreneur.

But over the last few years I’ve discovered something that has helped me become more focused and energized…

…AND…

It’s also helped me make more money.

I truly feel that if every entrepreneur had “this”, you’d get the same benefits.

Can you guess what it is?  Here’s a hint…

It’s NOT a product.

It’s NOT a service.

It’s NOT a tool.

It’s NOT a coaching program.

AND  It has NOTHING to do with any website.

You can’t buy it,  BUT, it will cost you money.

Confused yet?

Here’s another twist…

When you do hand over your money, you’ll be SUPER excited about (at least I was).

What is this “magic” thing that will make you a better entrepreneur?

You’ll see later this week

In the meantime, let me know what you think it is by leaving your comments below.

But while we were there, I couldn’t help but begin to see a variety of parallels between the small business owner and the Olympic athlete.

Here’s what I mean…

1)  Clear Vision / Focus

In order to compete at the highest level of sport (the Olympics), you must have a clear vision of what you want to achieve and the focus to do whatever it takes to get there.  Athletic ability definitely plays a big factor in winning or losing but being “mentally tough” can mean the difference between “just participating” vs being on the podium.

The same goes for business.  How many people do you know have the “skills” to build a successful business but for whatever reason never do?

Vision.

Focus.

These are the things that keep the entrepreneur on course and prevent us from getting the “shiny object distraction syndrome”.

That’s where the next big idea, latest tactic, or new tool pulls you away from your core business.

Hey, we’ve all been there but just like an Olympic athlete, we as small business owners must stay focused and have a clear vision of the business we are trying to build.  At the end of the day, our job as entrepreneurs is to create VALUE.  We do that by creating products and providing services that fulfill the needs of our customers.  As long as you always stay focused on that, you’ll always do well.

2)  Passion

Olympic athletes are passionate.

They are passionate about their sport, representing their country and they are passionate about competing and winning.

Likewise, successful small business owners are passionate about the products they sell and the value they provide.

Do you wake up excited about your day?

If not, that could be a sign that there are some things that need to change.

Often times it might not be the business or the industry that’s draining your passion.

It could be what you are working on inside of your business.

For example, if you’re not a details person (that includes me), then working on detail oriented projects and tasks is probably the thing that’s draining your energy and passion.  So a simple adjustment of hiring someone to handle that for you or outsourcing certain tasks to others can often be all you need to reignite that spark you had when you first started.  It will free up time for you to do more of the things that you love and are passionate about.

At the end of the day, if you aren’t passionate about your business, then it’s going to be a LOOOONNNGG tiring and taxing road if you want to build a successful business.

3)  Perseverance

One thing is for certain – when it comes to building a successful business, you can always bank on the fact that things will not always go according to plan.

There are going to be mishaps, mistakes and failures.

BUT THAT’S OK… it’s normal!

During the 2010 Olympics we were reminded of this when Heather Moyse and Kaillie Humphries won the gold medal in women’s bobsled.

Four years earlier at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Heather Moyse missed the podium by 0.05 seconds.

Can you imagine?  0.05 seconds.  That was the difference between being on the podium and sitting in 4th place.

Fast forward to the 2010 Games in Vancouver and you could hear Heather talk about how much it hurt to lose by that amount in Turin but that it served as motivation for her to persevere, train hard and do whatever it took to win gold in Vancouver – and that’s exactly what she did with her partner Kaillie Humphries (Canada actually placed 1st and 2nd!).

Another reminder of perseverance was when Joannie Rochette (Canadian figure skater) was put to the ultimate test during the Vancouver Games when days before her second last performance, her mother suddenly died of a heart attack.  Joannie was in the hunt for a medal but the whole country sympathized and understood should she not want to proceed.  She was close to her mother and something like this would be hard enough to deal with, let alone still compete in the Olympics.

But she persevered.

She not only skated her remaining two routines but she went on to win the bronze medal!

Listen, running a business isn’t going to be easy.  You are going to have all kinds of obstacles and challenges that you’ll need to deal with.

Things will go wrong.  You will eventually have an upset customer, an employee who aggravates you, or a product that needs fixing.  How you respond to and persevere through those things is what will determine your success.

Being a small business owner can sometimes be lonely as we bare the responsibility of creating great products, a vibrant work environment as well as putting food on the table for our family and employees.

Most people will eventually give up – just look at the stats of how many small businesses are still operating after 5 years.

So when times are tough, draw some inspiration from our Olympic athletes and remember, half the battle is just persevering through all the ups and downs.

4)  Strong Work Ethic

Olympic athletes aren’t able to compete on the world stage without putting in hundreds and hundreds of hours preparing, practicing and working at mastering their sport.

It takes work… a LOT of work.

Likewise, to build a successful business, it’s going to take work.

As best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk would say…

“Too many people don’t want to swallow the pill of working every day, every chance they get.  No one makes a million dollars with minimal effort unless they win the lottery.”

If you’re serious about building a successful business then you better be willing to devote yourself to the putting in the effort it takes to get to the top.

That means creating a new promotion when you want to go to bed, sacrificing 30 minutes of TV to write a new blog post or spending Saturday mornings replying to support requests.  It’s the extra effort and strong work ethic that will help you climb to the top of your industry quicker and faster than anyone else.

5)  Perfect Practice

One of my early mentors really helped me to understand the difference between “practice” and “perfect practice”.

He used to say that if you practice the wrong thing over and over, what happens?

ANSWER:  You just become really good at doing things wrong.

So it’s important to practice things perfectly day in and day out.

It’s no surprise that when you watch the Olympics you hear countless stories of all the planning and preparation that goes into a medal winning performance.  Hundreds of practice games.  Thousands of repetitions in the gym.  Countless trips up and down the mountain looking for ways to shave mere seconds off their times.

For several years, their lives are dedicated to practicing not only their sport but also the daily routines that are needed to put them in a position where they are prepared and ready to win.  That includes practicing their sport but it also includes eating the right foods, going to the gym, learning to prepare mentally, studying their competition or course and much more.

So let me ask  you… do you have a daily success routine?

What should YOU be doing every day?

Are you taking the daily steps neccessary to get your business to the next level?

One of the best exercises for small business owners is to look at your daily activities and ask yourself if what you are doing is the highest and best use of your time.

If not, then you’re likely practicing the wrong thing.

Change your activities and start building your “perfect practice” mentality and daily routine.

—

There can be a lot learned from our Olympic athletes and as small business owners we can draw many parallels in regards to what it takes to make it to the top of the podium and what it takes to succeed in our own industry.

Focus, Passion, Perseverance, Strong Work Ethic and Perfect Practice are just a few.

Can you think of any others?

Let us know by leaving your comments below.

In the meantime, here are a few pics from our Olympic experience in Vancouver

LEFT:  2 yr old Rylan is a proud Canadian
RIGHT:  Taking a moment to look at my Olympic pics

We start training our young ones early

Olympic Village

Molson’s Hockey House – Scalpers were even selling
tickets for $500 each just to watch the Canada game here!

Amy and the Canadian Mounties.

So many GREAT Canadian fans!

Amy and I waited in line 2 hours just to watch the
Canada hockey game in a bar downtown Vancouver.

A little “pre-Olympic” warm up.

The rings were “golden” as Canada just won Gold!

Standing on the podium with one of my best friends Braden
and his brother Nate.

YAHOO!  The Olympic torch

Time to go home.

Whenever I’m setting up a new blog or membership using WordPress, I inevitably end up searching for some new plugins that will either provide me some additional functionality and/or help make the setup easier and faster.

As a result of the last few sites I’ve been working on, I came across 2 WordPress plugins I think you’ll like…

1) Post Mash – This gives you the ability to quickly reorder your posts. So instead of having them display in reverse chronological order (which is the WordPress default), you can mix it up based on your preferences.

You can download it from here:

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/postmash/

—

2) WP Menu Creator – With this plugin you can quickly create your own navigation menu using links to pages, posts, categories and even tags. WooThemes has added similar functionality into their themes but this plugin will allow you to do the same thing even if you aren’t using a WooTheme.

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-menu-creator/

Enjoy!

WARNING:  As with any WordPress plugin, it’s important that you always be aware that there could be conflicts and/or outdated versions.  So always check you are downloading the latest version of the plugin and that it is compatible with your version of WordPress.

—

What WordPress plugins do  you like using?

Let me (and everyone else) know by sharing below in the comments.

In this video we explore one Twitter strategy and the question is, is it “Sleazy” or “Good Business”?

Watch the video and then let me know what you think in the comments: