(this is part 2 of the Post-#Shine Wrap Up … check out part 1: Do It With Your Eyes Open & Be Awesome)

More of what I learned after 5 days in Las Vegas:

I might be a real speaker.

I have a complex. (Okay, I have a few complexes, but let’s just deal with one at a time.)

I don’t think I’m a real speaker.

Yes, I regularly speak at live events. And I tell stories, make people laugh, teach them amazing content, and hopefully inspire them to take action on what they have learned.

But I’ve never been paid to speak.

You know, the person who gets paid $3K or $20K or whatever the heck people get paid to keynote an event. I’ve just done the free speaking, where you are supposed to be happy to be there so you can share your information & maybe add people to your list or sell stuff from the back of the room.

I have friends who are real speakers. They get paid actual checks (Do people still get actual checks? Either way, they get paid actual money.).

And I thought you magically get tapped to be part of the club once you become really good. Or maybe after you are President of the United States or save kittens from dying in Antarctica.

But as I was sitting in the audience listening to the keynote on Thursday, I realized that dude, I’m better than this chick.

I mean, yes, she started a company that she sold for millions and has a compelling story about her journey with cancer. But this woman’s success was based upon a lie, a bit of luck, and selling her business before the market changed. Her presentation was devoid of reproducible content, lessons that people in the audience could apply to their own business today.

And just like back in 2003 when I was inspired to start my financial business after I realized that I’m smarter than Suze Orman (there’s another blog post waiting to happen), I realized after watching this woman that I am a pretty good speaker already.

The only reason I’m not getting paid to speak is because I don’t think I should get paid to speak. Because I believe I’m not real.

Wow, as I wrote that last sentence I started to cry. Frak me. Well, at least now I know one thing I’m working on in 2010.

If it worked yesterday does not mean it will work tomorrow.

There is a business theory that reproducing what was successful in the past is a way to be successful in the future.

Now that’s not a completely insane idea, and in a slower moving world, it probably (maybe?) worked.

So today we go to events and listen to people who were successful yesterday, and they tell us the secret strategies & tactics of making their millions (or ahem, billions).

And tell us that if we do not follow their advice, then we are fools.

Bullsh*t.

If the only way to success was modeling tactics that worked in the past, we’d still be riding horses, taking ships to europe, sending checks via airmail, and turning on the news to find out what happened yesterday.

Cold calling would still work. Brand advertising would still work. People would still click on banner ads.

Technology & tactics change. And today, they change at exponential speed.

Even more so, the strategies that worked yesterday don’t necessarily work today, because technology has changed the sophistication of the customer.

People no longer respond to the push. They respond to building a relationship. Especially in a service based, personality based business.

Sorry to break it to you, billionaire, but twitter and facebook are not a waste of time.

Building relationships is never a waste of time. And twitter/facebook/blogs/social media are powerful tools to build those relationships.

Can you waste time on social media? Obviously, just like you can waste money on branding and printing fancy business cards.

Do we have something to learn from what worked yesterday? Yes, because some principles of business & how humans work still apply today.

Telling an audience of 450 entrepreneurs that twitter & facebook are a waste of time is a gross oversimplification and a violation of trust.

Psst … twitter & facebook relationship building leads to 90%+ of my revenue. What a waste.

Bullsh*t does not work on social media.

Now we are getting into pet peeve territory.

If you follow me on twitter, you know that my style is hands on. No automation. No assistants tweeting for me.

Why not outsource? Think of it this way: would you pay a virtual assistant to go to a networking event on your behalf?

Would you pay the assistant to dress up in your clothes & put on a wig and pretend to be you?

No, of course not. That would be total bullsh*t. Fraudulent. Creepy. And would totally not work.

Then why would you have someone pretend to be you on twitter?

Now there is a way you can use staff to manage your social media, answer questions for you, or even have their own accounts to handle customers service. That’s a brilliant way to leverage your time & provide even more relationship building opportunities with your community.

Having others tweet as if they were you is just gross.

So when Ali was on stage on Friday morning and this tweet allegedly from her came across my iPhone, I called bullsh*t.

(in case you can’t read the graphic, the tweet from @alibrownla reads: “@barbaracorcoran so excited to meet you today and have you speak to my audience at #Shine. We have so much to learn from you!” and it is dated 9:25 AM Nov. 6th)

Ali was obviously not tweeting that as she was on stage. Either she had an automatic service tweet that out (somewhat lame) or her staff was pretending to be her (ick!).

So here I’m sending a message to Ali’s team (that they probably will not listen to, since Ali’s mentor thinks twitter is a waste of time):

You. Are. Doing. It. Wrong.

And that is why you are getting mediocre results from your social media efforts.

Leverage Ali’s time, yes. Use staff to answer customer service issues, yes.

But either Ali tweets out as herself, or she shouldn’t do twitter.

And … the CEO of a personality-based business who wants to be big must engage her audience.  The most simple & inexpensive way to engage is through twitter.

#thatisall

(stay tuned for part 3 of the post-#shine wrap up, including: “The real magic happens outside of the seminar room.” & “It is possible to be married for more than 10 years and still have sex every day.”)

Related posts

• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 1 (25)
• Why I Don’t Want Any More Customers (19)
• The “Tell Me More” Project: How to Make Human Connections in a Digital World (5)
• The “Marketing Funnel” Business Model Sucks (57)
• How to Seduce Me (36)

Last week I went to Las Vegas.

Why? Well, it’s Las Vegas. Okay, I also went there to throw a tweetup and hang with the other entrepreneurs attending Ali Brown’s Shine Event.

After 5 days in Vegas, here’s what I learned:

Sometimes you need to do it with your eyes open.

The first “event” after arriving in Las Vegas on Wednesday was arranged by my friend Alexis Martin Neely — a yoga-ish tantric-ish bodywork-ish class facilitated by Alexis’ friend Charu. Don’t ask me to explain what this class was, I am totally not the woo-woo girl who knows about this stuff (yes, I own yoga clothes, but it’s for wearing on laundry day, not actually doing yoga).

Bottom line is that this class was designed to get this small group of women back into ourselves so we can access the power & truth in our bodies.

After working with us for a while, we each paired up with another woman in the group and did exercises which involved extended eye contact. This totally freaked me out.

Not because it was a way to really connect with another person (I’m totally into seeing other people’s stuff) but because it involved letting the other person into my stuff. Whoh.

Here’s the thing, I have a history of doing it (ahem) with my eyes closed to keep the other person at a bit of a distance, to maintain the artifice of who I think I appear to be.

So standing right there, with that woman in front of me, I decided frak it, I’m keeping my eyes open.

And I kept my eyes open for the next 5 days. Strangely, people seemed to still like me. Or at least they didn’t run away screaming.

Maybe I shouldn’t get used to having fans.

Something weird happened in the last 6 months. From some magical combination of making transparent videos & sharing TMI (too much information) on twitter, I became a famous person.

Okay, not an actual famous person. More like famous in a tiny tiny little world. I don’t know, maybe to like 5 people or something.

What I mean by “famous” is that people know me, really well, who I don’t yet know back. Not that I don’t want to know them … I just have not yet connected with everyone who feels that they have already connected with me.

So when I had my pre-shine tweetup on Wednesday night, not only did people actually show up (whew!) but some of them came to see me. Well, I’m sure they also came to talk to other people, but they wanted to connect with me in person, since they had seen my videos, followed me on twitter, or been on my list, and already knew me. Except I didn’t know them. Yet.

And let me tell you, that’s really strange. People I don’t know asking me to be in a picture with them, or just wanting to introduce themselves & say how much I have helped them. Awesome, yes. But really, really weird.

At first I thought, well, I have to get used to it. Get used to being a famous-in-a-tiny-tiny-world person, so when I’m an actual famous person, it’s easy. But the thing is, “getting used to it” might involve expecting it. Getting jaded. Holding myself up over the “other” people. Gross.

So never mind re getting used to it. I’m just going to get okay with being freaked out about it.

And, I’m going to keep connecting, keep engaging, keep nurturing the relationships I have with my tribe. So the next time I hook up with them IRL (in real life), it will be, well, less weird.

I am already awesome.

On day 1 of Shine, we were supposed to fill out a worksheet to figure out what needed to be done about our business and lives.

Question: how are you frustrated about your business & life?

Answer: Objection, question assumes facts not in evidence. (Sorry, inside lawyer joke there.)

Answer: My life & business are awesome.

Any frustrations I have are little things (my computer not working fast enough, the Starbucks chick forgetting to stir my mocha, etc.) that are easily moved through or solved.

And that’s huge. Every other year, I had a whole list of reasons my life & business sucked. But for the first time, I realized that they don’t. My life & business are freaking awesome. And whenever they aren’t, I immediately take action to make them so.

Really, that was worth the price of admission.

Knowing that I don’t need anything. Knowing that I’m already kickass.

Now that is freaking awesometastic.

(coming soon – part two, including: “If it worked yesterday does not mean it will work tomorrow” and “Bullsh*t does not work on social media.”)

Did you go to Ali Brown’s Shine event?  What did you think?  I want to hear from you — leave a comment below.

Related posts

• The “Tell Me More” Project: How to Make Human Connections in a Digital World (5)
• Live Your Truth Principle #2: Speak Your Voice (5)
• Living My Truth: Taking Uncomfortable to the Next Level (19)
• Live Your Truth Principle #1: Combine Passion With Skill (8)
• How to Seduce Me (36)

Do you want rapid transformation or change in your life?

Do you want to know why I keep coming to Las Vegas?

These two things have something to do w/ each other ….

What about you, what are you doing in your life to stir you up?

Related posts

• Monster Vegas Tweetup June 2009 (6)
• Do It With Your Eyes Open & Be Awesome: Post-#Shine Wrap Up, pt 1 (17)
• Divorce is Weird. (21)

Are you sick of trying to portray yourself as completely successful & perfect all of the time?

Especially since life is complicated. Sometimes stuff goes wrong. Or gets messy. Or gets harder.

Wouldn’t it be great if you could just tell the entire story, the whole truth, and people would still love you and buy your stuff?

[If you can't see this video, go here]

Check out Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 1 about access & engagement

So what do you guys think about telling the whole story?

Related posts

• Living My Truth: Taking Uncomfortable to the Next Level (19)
• Live Your Truth Principle #2: Speak Your Voice (5)
• Live Your Truth Principle #1: Combine Passion With Skill (8)
• Divorce is Weird. (21)
• Confessions of Unprofitability (37)

Have you been told you need to become a guru or an expert to build your business or speaking career?

That you must reduce access to you (not answer your own phone, not answer your own email, not speak to people at your events, have someone else manage your social media) in order to appear successful? That you must distance yourself from your people / community / tribe?

So … how’s that working for you? Not that great, eh? Yeah. Exactly.

[If you can't see that video, go here]

What do you think? Are you sick of guru’s? How do you want to engage with your people?

Related posts

• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 2 (12)
• Why I Don’t Want Any More Customers (19)
• The “Tell Me More” Project: How to Make Human Connections in a Digital World (5)
• The “Marketing Funnel” Business Model Sucks (57)
• Live Your Truth Principle #3: Nurture Your Community (1)

Do you have clients, or do you have customers?

Are you engaging in one-off transactions, or are you building relationships?

Here’s what I’m changing in the culture of Potts Weinstein Enterprises LLC …

What do you think? What words do you like to use to describe the people who purchase your services/products and the people on your various lists? Does it matter?

Related posts

• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 1 (25)
• The “Tell Me More” Project: How to Make Human Connections in a Digital World (5)
• Know Your Dealbreakers (10)
• How to Seduce Me (36)

Come on, confess. You know you have information products, binders, CDs, sitting on your shelf unopened in shrink wrapped, or only partially used, or never implemented.

I know I do. Boxes & boxes of them.

Are we doing a terrible disservice by selling information products to our customers?

Are information products a failure?

What do you think? Do we need info products to effectively leverage our businesses? Do they have their place? Or are we doing a disservice to our people?

Yesterday I was attacked by an internet troll. For those of you who are not familiar with the term, here’s the definition from wikipedia:

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

Now this is different than someone who emails, comments on my blog, or posts on twitter/facebook who wants to engage in a real debate or who has genuine feedback. I’m all about that stuff! No, trolls do something different … it’s a personal attack.

As I explain in this video, I was *so upset* when I got his email & posts on my facebook wall. But instead of just sitting there upset, here’s what I did…

And check out the debate among how to handle trolls on my friend Scott Stratten’s blog today: Trolls, Meatheads and My Mom at Un-Marketing.com

Related posts

• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 1 (25)
• Twitter Friday Follow 7-17-09: Take #fridayfollow to the next level! (8)
• The “Tell Me More” Project: How to Make Human Connections in a Digital World (5)
• The “Marketing Funnel” Business Model Sucks (57)
• Live Your Truth Principle #3: Nurture Your Community (1)

I created this video for my 6 Weeks to Live Your Truth Project members (we are still accepting new members until Thursday, so check it out), but wanted to share it with you too.

I have always loved to sing, but stopped singing in public when I was in 7th grade, when another girl got the lead in the church musical. At the time, I did not realized it was because unlike me, she had been taking singing & dancing lessons for years. But I viewed that as confirmation that singing was not my calling, and from then on, only sang to myself.

So here’s a little song for my Live Your Truth peeps, the first time I’ve sang in “public” in 20 years. Not only is this an example of doing something (very!) uncomfortable, but also a way of bringing a seemingly-unrelated passion into my business (as we discussed in 6 Weeks to Live Your Truth).

Why am I posting the video on my blog?

Well, because the very idea of posting it in public for everyone to see kind of makes me want to throw up. So, that means I totally have to do it. Cause that’s how I roll.

And … be nice.

Related posts

• Live Your Truth Principle #2: Speak Your Voice (5)
• Live Your Truth Principle #1: Combine Passion With Skill (8)
• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 2 (12)
• Do It With Your Eyes Open & Be Awesome: Post-#Shine Wrap Up, pt 1 (17)
• Divorce is Weird. (21)

I used to think that it was all about finding clients & customers … but I was totally wrong.

There are two other parts of your community: one that you must have to keep you in the mindset & moving forward, and one that will promote your for free (they are awesome!!).

Check out the other videos in this series:

Principle #1: Combine Passion with Skill
Principle #2: Speak Your Voice

If this video resonates with you be sure to check out 6 Weeks to Live Your Truth group coaching program.

And, as always, if you have any questions/feedback/comments, be sure to post them below or email me at elizabeth [at] thewealthspa [dot] com.

Related posts

• The “Marketing Funnel” Business Model Sucks (57)
• Know Your Dealbreakers (10)
• A Live Your Truth Moment from Carley Knobloch (1)
• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 2 (12)
• Why I Never Want to Be Called a Guru … part 1 (25)