Wildly Intentional

23. Making Events Work Harder for Your Business

• Season 1 • Episode 23

Share episode

Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.

0:00 | 42:23

In this episode of Wildly Intentional, Flick and Verity explore the power of events, networking and putting yourself in the right rooms.

Fresh from her annual pilgrimage to Atomicon, Flick shares why it remains one of the highlights of her business calendar and what makes an event truly worth investing your time, energy and money into. Together, the ladies discuss the different ways business owners can engage with events — whether that's attending, exhibiting, sponsoring or stepping onto a stage as a speaker.

But this isn't just a conversation about networking.

It's about being intentional with where you spend your time and surrounding yourself with the people, ideas and opportunities that help you grow.

Along the way, there's a brief update on Verity's ever-evolving camping adventures, plus a first for Wildly Intentional as the episode is recorded in two parts thanks to an unexpected work call that interrupts proceedings.

Whether you're a seasoned networker or someone who breaks out in a cold sweat at the thought of walking into a room full of strangers, this episode is packed with practical insights and honest reflections on how to make events work for you and your business.

 Subscribe to Wildly Intentional for weekly bold conversations on business growth, mindset and building a business that actually works for you. 

Come and say "hello" to us online - you can find Wildly Intentional Podcast on Facebook and Instagram.

Don't forget to join us in our Facebook Group to continue the conversation and let us know your thoughts on this episode and if you have ever felt the same as we do here.

SPEAKER_00

Welcome to Wildly Intentional, a podcast for business owners who refuse to play small.

SPEAKER_03

This is where we have bold talk, honest conversations and dig into what it really takes to create big breakthroughs in business and life.

SPEAKER_00

Reflick and variety, two business owners who've built, broken, rebuilt, and grown businesses in our own ways.

SPEAKER_02

And we're here to share the lessons, the mindset shifts, and the unapologetic decisions that helped us to level up.

SPEAKER_00

So if you're ambitious, growth focused, and ready to do business on your own terms. Let's get wildly intentional.

SPEAKER_01

Hello and welcome.

SPEAKER_03

Good morning. You okay?

SPEAKER_01

I'm good, I'm good. Oh, you sound you don't sound very full of the joys of spring today. Oh, I'm alright, I'm just tired today.

SPEAKER_03

Tired. I'm alright though. Going away for the weekend, so I'm like, you know, I'm gonna be fine. I'm like, it's it's I'm getting there, I'm getting to the weekend vibe. Nearly there.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I've got to ask a question now that all of our listeners want to know. It's like, are we going away in that VW bus? No, we're not.

SPEAKER_03

No, we are not. So I have an update. I'm a little bit devastated because after our conversation, I went and did some research. Um, before you know, I convinced my husband to buy this incredibly expensive, beautiful camper van. Um, turns out it's not a camper van, it's a seven-seater, which is lovely, but I already have a seven-seater, I don't need another one. And to make it a camper van, I have to have it converted. So it's seven seater. I'm not the converted kind of past person. Yeah, no, I'm not I'm not the person that's gonna go and get my camper van conveyed or my seven-seater converted, because then I just think, well, I've wasted seven seats, so I can't get my head around that. So I think my camper van dream is going to stay just that. I think we're back to the tent. Although I am also aware that we're coming to the end of June and we are no further in the conversation of the tent, and before we know it, the summer that we're not having is gonna be over anyway. And I'm probably gonna buy that tent about two weeks before next year's festival. Hope for the best.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I was gonna say, this is very much of a tell me your ADHD without telling me your ADHD. We we went big, big excitement on camping, then it's changed to the camper van, and it's all come crashing down when reality hits and the dream is gone.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. Although I'm looking forward to the day that I do come on this call and update you and say, I bought the tent. Ha ha, take that.

SPEAKER_01

Well, this is why we keep bringing it up, right? Because this is this is the uh the ADHD necessity to prove somebody wrong. Yeah. Watch me.

SPEAKER_03

I'm literally gonna go and spend two grand on a tent and camping equipment just to prove you wrong. That is my sole motivation because she said it's just ADHD and it won't happen, so I'm gonna make it happen now.

SPEAKER_01

I look forward to the video you guys putting the tent up as well. That's gonna happen. I'm just gonna get one of the girls and just message them and be like, hey girls, where mummy is.

SPEAKER_03

Do you honestly think I'm gonna be putting the tent up? I'm gonna be the one filming Paul trying to put the tent up. I'm not helping. Just let me know where the bed's up. I'm not getting dizzy.

SPEAKER_01

Paul, if you need help with the tent, reach out. I'll help you out here, mate.

SPEAKER_03

Paul will need help with the tent. Paul will be worse putting the tent up than I would. But it's gonna be fun to watch. My voice is going today, sorry. All right, what are we talking about? Just apologize as well. Yes, oh my god, and I apologize for saying sorry. It's just it's gonna get worse. I'm tired, my brain's not in gear. Executive function is offline today. It's gonna be fun.

SPEAKER_01

It's gonna be fun. I could I could be carrying this podcast.

SPEAKER_03

You could, likely.

SPEAKER_01

So then do I've just lost words then. Like are you really gonna carry this podcast? All of them tried to come out at once. Like that was sip coffee. Let's sip coffee. But coffee's too hot. Yes, we have brought coffee back to the podcast though, folks. So we will see how it goes. I keep removing it out of my reach though. So when I talk with my hands, it's it's I'm not at risk of throwing it everywhere because it is really hot at the moment. Like the last one that went everywhere, it had a chance to cool down. This one has not.

SPEAKER_03

This is this is yeah, don't throw that all over yourself.

SPEAKER_01

No, that's gonna hurt. That's that's that would hurt massively. Right, what are we talking about today? What are we talking about?

SPEAKER_03

I think we're talking about events because I believe you've just come back from one.

SPEAKER_01

I have. I've just come back from my favourite event of the the calendar year. Um, I've just come back from Atomicon. I say just come back. Like I I was back on Tuesday night. Atomicon finished on Tuesday. Um, although technically it had gone midnight. So, was I about Wednesday morning? It's like quarter to one in the morning by the time I got got to my bed. So yesterday I was absolutely wiped out, and then today I am back um and just really processing really everything that went on at that event. But I think it's a good event, good topic to talk about um because we know that lots of you are business owners. Um, there's events all up and down, I mean there's events every week in the business world, all up and down the country, isn't there? That you know, there's so many different things that we can go to, that we can explore. Um, you know, and I thought it'd be good to to talk about some of them. Um, you know, which how to sort of choose the right one for you, um, because they are they're not a small commitment of time, you know, to go to an event. And particularly, you know, Atomicon is a good couple of days out of my diary. Um, you know, but then we can talk about potentially looking at you know exhibiting events, which is another avenue that you can go down when you start going to these events. Um, and yeah, and things like you know, with Atomicon, um there's so many speakers to choose from. So you can choose what you sort of um listen to, um, who you listen to and who you take notes from, things like that. So it's like, you know, that kind of thing. We can talk about all of that, or I can just talk about it while you type along when I'm working.

SPEAKER_03

I got no idea what you just said.

SPEAKER_01

If she hadn't left the call, she'd be just nodding along. So, what was your experience of events are too? Or am I just gonna monologue this?

SPEAKER_03

Hang on, just just keep talking for a second, I just have to replace something really quickly.

SPEAKER_01

Multitasking at its finest, folks. We are we are witnessing the uh multitasking. Yeah, Verity can't talk different words uh as well as type different words. She can't, she can't hasn't quite mastered that one. Um so yeah, so um events are a big part of um business. You know, you can we can talk we've talked about networking events previously uh on this podcast. Um so I would highly recommend going back and listening to that one if you haven't previously listened to it. Um she's she's giving me a big signal, she's back in the room. She's cheering, she's back in the room.

SPEAKER_03

I'm back in the room for a minute.

SPEAKER_01

It might change a model of conversation. Um, but yeah, so you you know you've got networking events, but we're talking more about the the big business events um sort of thing where there's like a conference center type thing where you'll have exhibitors, um speakers, you know, there's networking rooms, breakout rooms, there's all sorts of different things. So, what's your experience, Varity, of going to events?

SPEAKER_03

Well, I loved a good expo when I was in business, so did Alison. We used to get really excited about it, not so much when the bank balance changed because of the expo. Um, but it's really funny actually, because when I was living up in Northamptonshire, when we had the social media business, um, our attitude, because we were in that real kind of business community, and expos were just something you did, so we kind of got on board with it really easily. Um, when I moved to Wales, the attitude is completely different, and people will not spend their money on events. And I watched business events happening and business expos, and they're just not the same. They don't get the footfall, they don't get the sponsorship, people just don't get behind it. It's really weird here. But when I was in North Hamps, we used to really get behind expos. There was a couple that we used to do regular. So, in terms of whether it's good for your business, it was amazing. We got so many clients from those, not immediately, and I need to put that caveat here because I think people think that they're gonna go and they're gonna get their money back immediately, but actually they're not, it's going to take time. You are this is a step to getting your name out there, getting your brand out there. It takes time before people come to you, but they do remember you from those expos, particularly if you do it well.

SPEAKER_04

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Now there is an irritation around it as well for me, because there was nothing worse than seeing a stand and somebody sat behind the desk on a phone. Oh, yes. It's like, do you want me to talk to you or not? Because clearly you don't, so I'm just gonna walk straight past. Whereas me and Alison, we were always known, we were a little bit legendary for our expos because we kind of decided early on that if we were gonna do it, we were gonna do it really well. So we would kind of pink it up massively, so we'd have the banners, we would have um the kind of showy stuff. So it that our stand looked amazing. We'd also have all the freebies, and it is an investment. I will say that if you're thinking about it, this is an investment, but it is a an investment that will give you a return um 100% down the line. But we'd get all the freebies. I've got I've still got a box of um what are they called? Stress balls somewhere with our logo on it. They were rubbish, they were awful. It was our first expo. Um, but they were the ones, you know, that don't actually squeeze, they were really irritating because they didn't actually do the job. Um, but we learnt from that.

SPEAKER_01

But we're just tempted to pick those up and throw them at people.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, well, I've got a box full of them, so if you need them, um I can't believe that. I'm sure I can call it with some kind of game to do with my scouts for them. Yeah, absolutely. I got hundreds of them. Um, but we used to do games and things, so we would be known to be the loudest in the room. Everybody knew when we were there because you'd hear a balloon popping, or you'd hear somebody screaming, or because we'd always have games to attract people in to our our stall, our table. Um, but it they were really successful, and you know, we used to do offers, it was a great opportunity to get people on your mailing list because nobody does anything unless you get on my mailing list. We're not playing any games unless you sign your name on the dotted line. Thank you very much. Yep. You have to be savvy with it. There is no point in just turning up, spending a load of money on um your oh my god, your um merchandise and things like that. Yeah, your merch and your visuals. There's no point in doing that if you're not actually, if you don't go in with a strategy, it goes back to strategies and plans. You have to know what you want to get out of that and what your aim is and and what and it's never sales on the day, don't go there. It's like networking. It is networking. Expos are networking. That's the whole idea of it. Um, so you're not going to sell on the day, you're going to kind of introduce yourself, get um, get your name out there, build relationships, but go with a plan. What is it you want to achieve? And ours was always let's just increase our mailing list because that that was always a benefit to us. Because once we had them on the mailing list, we had regular contact with them. And that's where the clients came in. So you've got to be strategic about it. Don't waste your money if you're not going to do something with it, or you're not going to have a strategy. But it goes back to what you said last week. Um, the sorry, I got distracted.

SPEAKER_01

You know, apologize for a distraction again.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, I'm liking this. I'm gonna apologize for apologizing. It's I am I am. Um, but yeah, it's like what you said last week. You know, when you go networking, there is a strategy when you're buying into events, you buy into it based on your strategic position. What you know, what is this gonna do for my business? So, and there's nothing wrong either with not having a stand and just turning up. But if you're going to go to an expo as a visitor, make sure you talk to everybody, go and find out what they're all about. Don't just walk around the room. It's quite intimidating, I think, sometimes when you're in that environment.

SPEAKER_01

With that, I've known people who've gone to expos as a as a visitor, as that, you know, delegate, um, which they're often called, um, and gone to try and pitch and sell to the exhibitors. Well, no, that's not what you're there as a delegate for. You know, the exhibitors have paid to be able to sell to you. Um, and if they're doing it right, then they'll do it really susily, like you say, getting you on your their email lists, um, having a conversation. They won't do direct sales. Um, but if you're there as a delegate, please do not go and try and sell to the exhibitors. By all means, start up a conversation.

SPEAKER_03

Really irritating.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03

Because at the end of the day, respect that we've spent a fortune to be there to promote our business. We are happy to have a two-way conversation with you, but don't come at me trying to sell to me when you're standing in front of my stand that cost me probably five, six hundred quid to be there. Um, and give you these freebies. Don't don't be rude. It I did. I used to find it really rude. I just used to walk away from people and did it. It's like, no, no, thanks.

SPEAKER_01

And I said, Yeah, as as a sole trader, as a solopreneur, whatever word you want to use. Please don't judge me if I've had to walk away from my stand because I need a we. I've had somebody like that. I'm I was gonna talk to you, but you walked away from your stand. I'm like, I needed a we, I needed I needed water, I needed yeah.

SPEAKER_03

But the trick there is get to know the stand next to you, build a really good relationship with them because they'll have your back.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they'll be like, Oh, she just you know, she just popped away for a wee, um, she'll be back in a second, but you know, she she does this because I've I've you know really got to know her, blah, blah, blah. Um, you know, and you do the same for the stand that's next to you, you know, if they've had to pop away. Um, but yeah, I always saw that with like stands that have got teams of like two or more. It's like it's a lot easier for them to step away because there's always then somebody at the stand. Yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_03

But yeah, I actually drive Paul to mine to make sure that we're covered, just so me and Alison could go around and talk to everybody because we were very nosy. So he just like hold the fort so we could just go around.

SPEAKER_01

And I've done that before is is taken taking Rob to events. Um, and when I've been like on the committee and I've had to like do the check-ins or you know, ticket in entrances and stuff like that, and I'm on the front desk. Um, and Rob like was it just said, Well, hand me a stack of your business cards and I'll I'll go do it's like I can't do it as well as you because I'm not I'm not you, but I can at least go and keep your presence going.

SPEAKER_03

Um, which is although I have to say, you know, prior to you coming on board at IMC, had I known you, I'd have taken you to the expos because you could sell us better than we could, as we discovered on that networking call. You could always pitch our business far better than we could. I nearly said, only you apologise then. Do you think they're worth the investment?

SPEAKER_01

Um, I think you have to pick the right one. So I've been to vital. Yeah, I've been to I've been I've exhibited at events. Um, I mean, the first time that I ever exhibited, um, I I picked the event um because it was it was because of the location, right? I I'm a massive F1 fan and it was at Silverstone, and I'd never been to Silverstone. Um, and I was like, oh my god, it's an event at Silverstone, and I can get in there and I can exhibit there, and you know, just to say the fact that I've been to Silverstone.

SPEAKER_03

Did you stand on the podium?

SPEAKER_01

I did not, no.

SPEAKER_03

I stood on the podium. Not as putting that out there, and I hate Formula One, but I can still say I've stood on that podium.

SPEAKER_01

Rob was most upset because Rob came with me because it was um a military um expo, so it was all to help people who were in the military who were transitioning out of the military go into careers and the sort of things that were available to them. So, as a military wife, I was invited to be able to um expo my business because I have the military link. So it was kind of an exclusive event as well, um, as exclusive as you can be when there's several branches of the military and their spouses or children or partners could be there. So it was exclusive without being too exclusive. Um, and Rob was most upset because I actually had people going around on the track, and if you um were military or ex-military or you know veterans, um, you could go out on the track, but you had to be wearing full-length trousers and full-length sleeves. And for those of you who've ever met my husband, he is never in full-length trousers unless it's a really formal event like a wedding or a funeral, um, or he's really ill. So he was most upset that none of that information was on.

SPEAKER_03

No, he wasn't. Although it was a summer theme. Yeah, it was very severy.

SPEAKER_01

He wore a Hawaiian shirt that might be. He did. Hawaiian shirt was mandatory. Um but yeah, he was most upset the fact that none of the pre-event information um told told us that he had to be in full-length trousers because he hadn't packed any. Um so we went down there. He was most upset. But yeah, and that was that was probably my worst event in terms of people walking past the the stand that I had, the table, call it what you will, um, because we were actually up on like a the third level that a lot of people didn't realise it was a third level. Um so eventually it was like there was me and a couple of my my business friends um who were also at that expo. Um, we decided to almost like abandon our tables because we'd done the the mingling around with the tables that were near us, but nobody was really coming up. Um so we went to go downstairs and go and you know, talk chat to people and sort of try and pull them upstairs and go like, oh well, I've got a stand upstairs. If you want to know more about you know what I do and blah blah. So yeah, picking the right ones to expo at. Um, you know, always assess the layout if you can, you know, when you're talking to the organizers, if you can ask a little bit about the layout, like is it all on one level? Is the is it like an IKEA kind of situation where once you go in, you've got to go through all the tables before you can get to you know the food court or you know, the speakers bit, or is it bits where you can easily cut corners and therefore you run the risk of having a table that isn't gonna attract a lot of attention, which is where you really need the games and the the the fun stuff, the the loud noises that brings people in.

SPEAKER_03

Because you've got to have a problem is you don't always know, you know, when you book your stand, you don't know where you're gonna end up. And there was always I used to feel quite sorry for the event organizers because there would always be one or two that had to go in the worst position, if you like. Oh god, this is not working well today. Um, and you know, there's nothing they could do about that other than kind of just encourage people to go through um that kind of that direction. You don't know when you're booking it, but I think what you did was absolutely right. If they can't come to you, if they won't come to you, go to them and just let everybody know. It's not just the event organizers' responsibility, and it used to get our backs because I used to do social media for one of them, which is why we were really lucky, we always had prime position. Um, but when we were advertising for it, you know, we would go out and say, This isn't just our responsibility. If you're going to attend and you're paying to be there, tell people you're gonna be there, go and promote it. And the number of times that people would complain that the footfall was low, and I'm talking like we still have two, three thousand people come through the doors. Um, they complain and it's like, What did you do? Did you advertise it? No, that's not my job. Well, actually, it is because you're paying to be there, so go and um promote it. I'm just gonna shut my window because I don't know if you can hear that, but the bin men have just turned up.

SPEAKER_01

I was hoping there was a little there was a little bit of a beeping in the background, but yeah, no, I'm I'm completely on board with that, you know, and it's the same as if like if you're speaking at an event. Now, don't completely rely on your speakers and your exhibitors to market your event, absolutely. But if you're speaking at an event or if you're um exhibiting at an event, you should be you should be piggybacking off the marketing that they're doing, saying, like, hey, I'm gonna be at this event, come and say hello. This is what I'm gonna have. I'm gonna have a special offer that I've developed just for this event that you know you want to be there to come and see me, to come and see me at my stand or hear me speak, whatever it is. But you know, have a hook, have a reason that people are gonna come to you. But yeah, absolutely, don't just turn up at an event and expect that the event organizers have done all of the marketing for it.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

It's yeah, that's the oh that really gets my back up. But also, um, I've I've known event organizers who expect their exhibitors and their speakers to do all of the marketing for it without them doing anything.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, no, that's not okay. It's a two-way relationship. It is a two-way relationship. You need to kind of they need to make the effort, and so do you. But there is so only so much they can do. They can't directly hit your audience because their audience is massive. So you've got to take responsibility for that. I do think they're worth the investment. I think you're right. I think you do have to pick the right one. Unfortunately, you won't know if they're the right one until you've actually done it and tried it. Um, but test the waters, don't go and spend a fortune immediately, but test the water to see how it feels, and then you know, really go for it on your next one. But I just think it's a good investment in your business because you do get exposed to so many people. It's really good. What about other events? Like, so you've just become back from Atomicon. I can never say it's. Right, Tomicon? Yeah, TommyCon. Um, which is obviously, you know, the biggest marketing event. And it's just I get really jealous because I see it all over my my social media feeds when it's on.

SPEAKER_01

Um with me next to you then. Come with me. No.

SPEAKER_03

No, I'm out of it. I'm out with that game. It's not my bag anymore. You can keep the marketing.

SPEAKER_01

Um it's not just for markers. Is it not? No. No, I actually think you probably do well promoting the business of the training that you now do.

SPEAKER_03

Oh really?

SPEAKER_01

Um and get some connections from that. Yeah, I really do think because it because it's business owners and big businesses who want to improve their marketing.

SPEAKER_03

Like Yeah, I don't know, maybe jury's out. But other events, you know, we used to kind of um we were always a little bit cautious about signing up to events that people were holding. Like, you know, there are, I mean, those events that you've been to that you've been burnt at to. Um, and I think I think it's really important that I am a full believer in investing in yourself. I do think you should always invest in continuous learning, surrounding yourself by like-minded people, having those communities, and going to events is a really great way of doing it. But it goes back to what you just said about you know finding the right ones for you. Don't just jump in. And actually, this goes back to something you said a couple of weeks ago when you said you're at that networking event and somebody was trying to talk you into something and it had to be a strategic decision. I think we get drawn into things, particularly in the online space. The online space, I have to say, is really toxic, it's always been really toxic. And you have to, when you're in that kind of industry, everybody's kind of trying to be in with each other, but also competing with each other. So it sometimes you know it all comes to blow and they have these massive arguments publicly online, which is so bad. It's just just don't do it, it's just no need. Have it in private. Anybody heard of not airing your daily laundry on so social media? I don't know. Um, but yeah, I fall in with people online.

SPEAKER_01

Like, well, I'll fall in out with people, but I might I I won't go. You don't go and post it all over social media, do you? You don't, you just or like you know, like those really cryptic ones that you used to always see on um Facebook that were like, I'm so done with this, and like you just get all these messages going like PM me her, PM me her, are you okay?

SPEAKER_03

I saw the post uh shut up, anyway. Um I have zero tolerance for that, but you it is it can be quite toxic because everybody's trying to be in with each other, but they're also trying to compete with each other. Um, but obviously some of them hold events, and you know, everybody wants to go to it, and you get kind of swayed because they've got so many different, so many thousands of followers, and you get swayed thinking this is gonna be amazing, and then you get let down because it wasn't what you thought it was gonna be. So you gotta be careful. I do fully believe if it's right for you, if it feels right, you should invest in yourself, you should go to events. They're brilliant for confidence, they're brilliant, brilliant for learning, they're brilliant for networking, but choosing the right one is relevant.

SPEAKER_01

And don't be afraid, like if you get those invitations from event organizers or from the exhibitors or the speakers that say, you know, I'd love for you to come to my event. Um, you know, I think it'd be really beneficial to you, that kind of you know, that kind of invitation. Don't be afraid to go back and ask them and go, what do you think I'm gonna get out of this? Like, who who is gonna be there that you think is gonna be valuable for me? Um, or do you want me to just come and support you? Like that's that's not a problem, but I'm only gonna be there for like an hour to come and you know, show facing support you and then disappear, depending on the price of the ticket. I went to an event last year that I thought was gonna be like this huge, I thought it was gonna be like another Atomicon type thing, and and the tickets were quite expensive, even on the early bird. Um, and I went along to it and it was filled with big businesses, and absolutely, you know, I just launched my my social amplifier course, which is for big businesses for me to come and train their staff to using things like LinkedIn and that. Um, but the trouble with some big businesses, and I'm gonna say some big businesses, because it is not all, is that a lot of big businesses don't network. So you go to an event that's filled with big businesses, and they don't want to network, they don't want to talk to people that they don't know.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

They and I came away with that from that event, and it was down in London, it was you know, it was fantastic. Um, managed to see catch up and see some of my friends who are based down in London anyway. Um, but I came away from that event going, I I am gonna get absolutely not a single penny back from all of the money I and it was a few hundred quid just to attend. It wasn't I wasn't exhibiting, um, you know, it was it was I think I must have spent about four or five hundred quid just to attend this event, and I came away having made one new LinkedIn connection. Um, and I still chat to him because he was in the same boat of like we kind of found each other over lunch, going like, well, this was not what I expected. I have not had anybody who wants to talk to me apart from you.

SPEAKER_03

And he was the same. Um, you've just reminded me actually of something that we did um quite early on. We were asked to be speakers at a networking event, and there was another speaker there as well. Um, and it went really well. And then this other speaker came on and he was so inspirational. It was just, oh my god, I want to whip with this guy. He was amazing, absolutely phenomenal. And on the day he was selling tickets to it was limited to 10 people. So it was really kind of um, he was he was a business coach, but he was very high-end, but he like drew us in massively with his story. We're like, this guy's incredible. So we paid, I think, 69 quid each, it was really cheap, just to go on his one-day masterclass, which was up in London. So we spent the money getting to London, um, took a day out of the office. We're really excited about this masterclass, and it was literally a one-day sales pitch. The whole day was a sales pitch to his three and a half, four and a half thousand pound program, and that's all it was. It was just all the benefits of why you should join his four and a half thousand pound program all day. I don't know how he managed to create a one-day sales pitch by the end of it. That's impressive, I'm saying, given like really impressive. But do you know what? The the shame of it was if you'd pitched that at the networking event, we might have bought into it because the real him showed up at that point, his story showed up. But because he dragged us to London under false pretenses, he wound us up to the point we'd literally blocked him. It was like, do not come near me again because you conned us. You brought us here under false pretences, and I cannot buy into that. So, you know, he could, we probably would have invested the money if he'd done it in the moment. But dragging us to London on the pretense of having this massive masterclass, and actually all it was was let's talk about me and how good I am, and you know, why you should work with me. It was just like, no, this was an absolute con. You paid him to you paid him to deliver that. I did. Oh, excuse me. Yeah, we did. Two of us paid him to deliver that, and so did the eight other people in the room. It was just awful.

SPEAKER_01

I mean, I've fallen for the um, you know, when you get speakers and they always do the you know, fastest the back of the room gets this amazing offer. Um yeah, I've I've fallen for that one as well when I've been at an event. Um, and I was just caught up so much in the moment that, yeah, okay, I'll put my hand up and I put my hand in my pocket and I paid for something. And then it was about a week or two after I was like, oh my god, what did I do that for? Why? Why? I don't know them, I don't trust, like, not that I don't trust them, but it was that I hadn't got to trust them. Yeah. I just got so wound up in this phantasmagorical offer um that yeah, I ran to the back of the room and it was just like afterwards, and I was listening to one of the other speakers later on in the day, and and um she said something about something similar. Um, and I messaged her when I had the realization like a couple of weeks later, going like, oh my god. And she was like, Well, what are you gonna do about it? I was like, Well, I'm gonna go and and make the most of this thing that I put my hand in my pocket for. Um, and I did, but while I was actually at the so it was, you know, a two-day course that we ran to the back of the room to to go and get. Um, and while I was at that two-day course, I maximised that and I came away, I came out of that two-day course with three clients, which paid me back for the money that I'd done to be in a two-day course.

SPEAKER_03

And you do have to do that, don't you? You do have to kind of, if you get caught in something, which is really easy to do, but you get caught up in the hype of something, you have to just go there and think, okay, so this isn't what I thought, but I'm going to get the most out of it. Strategic thinking again.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. You know, it wasn't just cut my losses, it was no, how can I make, you know, how can I turn this into a profit, not a loss. Um, but yeah, and I, you know, I learned from that. And and as I said last week, you know, now if somebody makes me an offer, and even if it does sound like a brilliant offer, it's um, yeah, it's it's I've got to do that. Well, this is gonna be fun as to whether the editing skills are good.

SPEAKER_03

I'll come back. Even though we didn't go anywhere.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

So you might have noticed that there's a little bit of a cut between what we were just saying from your perspective as a listener, um, to what we're now saying. Um Verity's now just gonna drown herself with water, um, which is what I can see on the screen. Um, so basically, while we were in the middle of that conversation, Verity started to have a phone call. Um, and we've had we had to stop the recording, um, and we're trying to go back to it. And we thought about trying to go back to it and being honest and uh no, not being honest, and trying to you know carry on the conversation as though we hadn't just left on a bit of a cliffhanger. Um and we realized about that actually that was disingenuous to you guys, and that's not what we're about on this podcast. We're all about being yourself, showing up as yourself, and admitting your faults and admitting when things go wrong, right?

SPEAKER_03

Oh my god, you totally went down a really lovely route there. I was just gonna say, we've had too much of a day, we're too DHD to even contemplate picking up that conversation because neither of us can even figure out what we were talking about. So, okay. If we want to say that we're just real, then that's fine. That's your perspective. Mine was I cannot even think about what we were talking about, so let's just carry on.

SPEAKER_01

Spot the marketer in the room who just was like, I'm gonna spin this, and oh, I can link it back to actually what we're about on this podcast.

SPEAKER_03

I mean, you're right, you are right, but you know, no, that wasn't my motive. Sorry. It was just like just don't use motive continue. Sorry, yeah, God.

SPEAKER_01

Oh I do think we're gonna have to start putting a counter on these of like in the show notes of like how many uh apologies we make.

SPEAKER_03

Ping, ping, ping. Or those um, what was it octopuses? Where did that where have I seen those? Octopuses one, oh it's on Bridget Jones's diary. It is Bridget Jones's diary.

SPEAKER_01

It's like swimming with the jellyfish. I do but yeah, I think we were talking about the the whole run to the back of the room when you're listening to speakers at events, yes, um and doing it in the right way. Um, and when you do sign up for things, you know, make sure that they're right for you at an event, you know, try not to get swept up into that whole energy. Um, it can which can be really difficult. Some people, you know, when they're speaking, are really quite um inspirational. Yeah, and they you get swept up in that moment, don't you? And it's it's difficult to not feel that.

SPEAKER_03

My recommendation on that is don't make any snap decisions, just like, you know, no matter what the pressure is, just take a minute, just breathe, go and sleep, go and do something before you actually make that decision, particularly if there is like quite a big financial outlay on it.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I mean, I look and this goes back to one of the other podcast episodes that we've had of like, you know, getting a business coach. Because actually, if you are like, no, let me run that idea past my business coach for you know, getting that third party opinion, um, you know, on it and going, is this the right decision for me? I'm not sure. It sounds really good, you know, having that that third party who's going to be really critical. And and like we said in that episode, you know, not being just a cheerleader, like, yeah, whoa, go you. Um that would be that'd be a good bit of advice, I think.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. And the other thing I wanted to talk about, I've remembered from this morning now, is speaking at events, like speaking at expos and things. We used to jump at every opportunity to do that, and it's really nerve-wracking because you've literally got a room full of eyes on you, they're really paying attention to what you're saying. But oh my word, does that pay off? It is a brilliant world way to just what's the word I'm looking for? Seal your expertise in the room. If you get the opportunity to speak at events, any kind of event, any exhibition, anything that's to do with business, go and do it because you are literally showing people what experts you are.

SPEAKER_01

And even at networking events and things like that, there's always opportunities that they'll have like a member showcase or keynote speech or a you know speaker slot. Call it, they'll call it whatever they they want. And like this is you know, 10 minutes or so for somebody in the room to come and really show the case their expertise. Absolutely jump at the chance of those. Um, I remember being part of a networking group and that always used to ask for volunteers to run that um bit, and it was like every week. I was like, Yeah, I'll do it. Yeah, I'll do it, yeah, I'll do it. And you know, there were other people who were like, Oh no, I'm not confident enough. No, I'm not confident enough. I'm like, but this is this is prime, you know, seal your expertise, um, show, showcase your your skills, your experience, your knowledge. I I I don't know some people who show. I mean, I do, because it's it's the social anxiety and it's the confidence thing.

SPEAKER_03

It's terrifying. But my tip on that would be go and get some confidence coaching or some um public speaking training, because it will be absolutely that's another investment that would be worth it. If you do struggle and you're nervous, invest in yourself that way. Invest in your your own confidence and your public speaking abilities because there are really good coaches out there that will do that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I've got a whole list of them that I recommend. Um, so if anybody really does want that, by all means drop us a message. Um, we're available on Facebook and on Instagram under Wildly Intentional. And uh yeah, come and say hello, and I will quite happily be pointing in the right direction of some truly amazing speaker coaches um who will help you to do that because it is so valuable. I'm laughing because they can't hear Verity's face because you just started to yawn. I'm glad I'm I'm entertaining you here, Verity. Yeah, sorry.

SPEAKER_03

It's like the wrong end of the day now. I'm like I'm done, I've had it. Yawning away. Sorry, no, I'm not sorry. I apologised again, for God's sake. Yeah, so okay, so Wednesday wild words of wisdom then.

SPEAKER_01

I think mine's gonna be the, you know, do do the research on the events, don't just sign up for everything, have a look at what's really good for you, what's gonna work for you, what's gonna be, you know, gonna have your target market sitting there. You know, it can be really tempting to say yes to every event that you hear about or see. You know, again, we're going back to the be strategic, you know, have that, you know, strategic thought.

SPEAKER_03

Absolutely. I can't really top that if I'm honest. One, because I can't think, and two, because that's what I was gonna say. So you copied me. You still back under just take a breath before you kind of get swept up in that that momentum, just take a breath and really think about whether it is the right thing for you because it might be exciting and it might be inspiring, but it also might just not be what it what it says on the tin. So just take a breath and make sure that it is the right move for you. But if it is, absolutely invest in yourself, it's the best thing you'll do.

SPEAKER_01

Make the most of it, you know, throw shout about it everywhere on your website, on your Instagram, your Facebook, your LinkedIn, your blog. Oh my god, post it everywhere because you're the only one that sees 100% of your content. Say this to my clients all the time, you know.

SPEAKER_03

And you know, if one of those events is an expo, then you'll have an email list. So the next time you do another talk or the next time you attend another event, you'll have more people to shout in about too. Yes, absolutely.

SPEAKER_01

Right, thanks. I think that is all our our thoughts and ideas. Certainly, you know, Ferti's gonna go for a nap now, aren't they? I am how enough. No, no, no.

SPEAKER_03

She's had a day. Can I just tell you something that was really offensive before we go? Sorry. Right. I thought because it wasn't me. Like no, it wasn't you, it wasn't you. And I apologised again. Um, right. You want to can you notice I've got new glasses. I've got new glasses, they're very shiny new glasses, right? They cost me an absolute fortune um because my eyesight's gone terrible, which apparently it's not my eyesight, it's just age, which is lovely. Um, but basically, I needed, I had my short-sighted ones. I did have my long-sighted glasses as well, but a while ago they said I don't need them, so I stopped wearing them, but now I'm back at the stage where I do need them again. So I was like, look, I just keep losing them or I scratch them or I put them down somewhere. So they suggested very focals. So I was like, oh, okay. See, why are you laughing? Why are you laughing? What is your first thought?

unknown

I don't know what my thought was.

SPEAKER_03

Well, see, my first thought was okay, that sounds interesting. Um, you know, I don't I don't really want those kind of two-tone lenses or whatever. And they said, no, it's not like that anymore, and all that. So I went for it. So a friend met me for coffee just after I went and picked my glasses up. And first of all, she said, um, I didn't even know you had new glasses, they're the same as your old ones. They're not the same, actually. Um, they're the same colour, maybe. Clearly, I like red. And I said, Oh, I said, I'm spinning out a bit because they're verifocal, so the floor looks a bit weird to me right now. And she went, Oh, she said, I need verifocals, but I'm just not there yet. And I said, What do you mean not there yet? And she went, Well, it's old, isn't it? Wait a minute, friend up. Oh, look, um, my daughter's ringing me now. And what's that? Let me just decline that. Um yeah, apparently it's old. Is it old? Oh, she's not gonna stop ringing.

SPEAKER_01

No, it's I don't know. I mean, it did make me laugh about that. So for some of the activities that I do, like the archery and the uh air rifle instructor um stuff that I do now, um, we realised very quickly that you can't do air rifle shooting with verifocals on because you have to turn your head sideways to look down the site, and verifocals don't work left to right, they work up and down. Yeah. So my friend who had variofocals on, uh, the second day she came in, thankfully, with her contact lenses in, um, because she realized on the first day that she couldn't actually see the target.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah, everything left and right is all like really squiffy.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Up and down is the way that they vary.

SPEAKER_03

Yeah. It's been funny today because today's the first day of like being at my laptop with them because I picked them up last night and it's been like uh you can't see, obviously, you can't see me. You can't see what I'm doing. But I've been trying to squeak around.

SPEAKER_01

So what like this, she means by push she's pushing the bridge of her glasses until they're in the middle of her forehead. It's like audio descriptive here of everything. Yeah, sorry. Don't apologize. Sorry. Oh, I don't think we're gonna have to leave that there.

SPEAKER_00

We'll see you next time, face.

SPEAKER_03

Don't forget to subscribe, share, and come and say hello online. And remember, bold talk leads to big breakthroughs. And no apologies.