Hey There,
Well, the Stepup Mastermind Tour has officially come to an end. Thank you to all members who attended and it was really great to connect with so many different business owners and entrepreneurs. Every one of them were so different and I’m extremely proud of the value-based environment we created. It was truly a great platform for people to stepup to shine. Thanks again to our Mastermind special guest Jennie Armato who shared her amazing experience, depth of knowledge and incredible insights in delivering clarity and dimension to member’s future business direction. Make sure you check out her upcoming “Collab Labs” for the new economy entrepreneur.
Over the next few weeks, I will reveal some findings from the mastermind series because I think it’s important that you are aware of what’s happening in the marketplace. I’m often paid to research the market and predict trends for speakers, coaches and seminar leaders and it’s been very interesting lately. I have no doubt that this transition will cause some promoters to close shop because the market won’t tolerate “laziness” and “sameness”.
While some people are calling it the “death of the seminar”, I believe a more accurate title is the “death of value.” There’s so many events out there now, but there is no distinct value or reason for people to attend. You can only buy so many opportunities and why would you go back if you bought a package and it didn’t deliver. You can only bribe people to stay in the room for so long. And seriously, I’m sick of marketeers who think a book is just another “marketing tool” to get people to your seminar. Sure, it’s a great tactic short term but long term relationship building with your list is a much more powerful strategy to keep people interested in your brand.
Books have a special purpose. A book contains words, stories and strategies that can transform lives and inspires you to escape your reality and chase your dream. I mean JK Rowling doesn’t see her book as a glorified lead generating “business card” but an opportunity to inspire young children to read again. A great book is a great “positioning” tool for you and in this new education era, you need to position yourself for expert status. I recently spoke with amazing publisher Lisa Messenger and she said books were “all about building engagement by leveraging the spirit of the brand”. Wow…love it!!!
Recently I spoke to people who have invested in these book opportunities and have heard some horror stories. The people that have purchased book reprint rights to republish or participated in collaboration books have been disappointed because so much was promised and so little delivered. Take responsibility and make the time and effort to craft your message because your authentic voice will come through and your book will outlive you. It’s part of your legacy. Speak to experts like Lisa and Dale Beaumont who have successfully published books for business owners and entrepreneurs. I’ve seen many careers and businesses start from an original book so it’s worth your time and effort to produce a quality book.
Listen, here’s a really big lesson that will end the grief in the seminar game once and for all. After investing a lot of money and time and asking questions, I believe I’ve discovered a fundamental paradigm shift that has never ever been addressed and once address it will allow people to respect seminars for what they are and stop the whining and bitching against promoters who need to generate revenues to fund their business.
Are you ready? Here it is…
“You cannot stitch the business world with the opportunist world. There is a clash of psychological infrastructure.”
It’s like the gap between the rich and poor. You can’t cross pollinate and jump the gap because your mindset creates the structure that carves your reality. Give an opportunist a million dollar business and he will run it to the ground. Give a business owner a opportunity and he will build a successful business within 90 Days. You can teach and accelerate the skills gap, but you can’t bridge the accumulated “experience”.
Let me explain. In the seminar world, it’s harder to sell to a business owner than an opportunist. A business owner is focused on how the new opportunity would help them in their business because they purchase specific resources to help them grow and expand. Whereas, an opportunist has no buying criteria and will buy anything solely on the hype or “pitch”. It’s the opportunists that cause the most dramas in the seminar game because they are eager to blame the system or product and refuse to take responsibility for their actions. There’s always two sides and it’s interesting when you listen to the languaging and tone of these “victims”.
For entrepreneurs, there’s a constant battle between searching for new opportunities versus the focus on building the business. Real business grows through marketing, sales and creating a great team. Opportunist search for the pill to cure a systemic disease, whereas what they really need is major surgery. Listen, there is no wrong or right. But it’s important to know WHO you are and WHERE you are playing the game. Take a moment and think about it. Here’s a tip. Judge your answer on how you BEHAVE not on what you THINK. Behaviour never lies.
The biggest business decision I made was to convert from being an opportunist to becoming a strategist. It changed my whole business perspective. And the best report for that was Rich Schefren’s Business Manifesto. If you haven’t read this report, please do and if you have read it, get it out and read it again. It’s very powerful. I was able to get Rich to come out to Australia and spent some time with him and he revealed that if most people spent consistent time building their business, they wouldn’t need to chase bright and shiny objects. Building a business gives you a filtering system to say NO more often and honestly, real business owners really don’t have time to attend “opportunistic” seminars every month.
I remember when I consulted “strategically” with a client for an event. They wanted to run a business event but the marketing materials were written to attract business opportunists. The title of the event was “Masters Of Big Business Success” or MOBBS for short. I warned the promoter that the most they would get would be 300 people if they ran with this theme and if they wanted to fill their 1000-room capacity, they would need to engineer an angle where it would attract people who wanted “cashflow” but not necessarily from business. That started the birth of the “Masters Of Cashflow” events which did over a million dollars over the weekend in its first year. With over 1064 registrations and 960 people turning up, it was a huge success. It was the breakthrough event that allowed me to secure a $300,000 contract the following year!
I know not everyone on this list is into seminars. But I honestly believe that speciliazed seminar education and mastermind is the future. We don’t have time to go back to university and do a 3-5 year degree. There’s new jobs and new business opportunities that are currently available to serious students who can spot a gap in the market and solve a problem. Become a great problem solver and you will have a great business that serves you and your community.
Nothing is missing…”leverage the spirit of your brand.”
Simplify Life,
CHEN
P.S Some people have asked me to private label my mastermind system for their speaking, coaching or seminar business. If you have a list of members and want to add more value or introduce an ascension program, than mastermind is a great way to do it. Please private message me your details and we can discuss if mastermind is right for you. Also, if you are interested in participating in masterminds, I will be setting up a special page for that also. Have a fantastic week…
