February 26, 2025 • 36 mins
Prepare to be inspired as Blair Nichols, the vibrant force behind BBN Creative Management, joins us on Small Business Pivots. He reveals his journey from a childhood curiosity about business to becoming a powerhouse in empowering entrepreneurs through speaking engagements. Blair opens up about his transition from a corporate career to full-time entrepreneurship, sharing how storytelling and communication can be pivotal tools for business growth. For those ready to harness their speaking potential, Blair offers invaluable tips on how to be the face of your business and the importance of connecting with your audience.
Discover the liberating shift from side hustle to full-blown business ownership, as Blair shares his personal experiences and strategic insights. He dives into the benefits of having control over client selection, work-life balance, and financial prospects, drawing on his own journey to replace his salary and gain autonomy. Blair's story illuminates the freedom and flexibility that remote work can offer, allowing entrepreneurs to sculpt their ideal lifestyle and enjoy the fruits of their labor on their own terms.
For anyone battling stage fright or imposter syndrome, Blair's candid advice is a beacon of encouragement. We explore practical strategies for overcoming these common hurdles and maximizing the impact of speaking engagements to drive business success. Blair emphasizes the power of preparation, practice, and presenting unique expertise to the right audience. From developing a compelling signature story to repurposing content for digital platforms, he outlines a sustainable speaking strategy that can unlock significant growth opportunities. Tune in to uncover how face-to-face interactions and strategic speaking can propel your business forward.
Blair Nichols: Founder of BBN Creative Management
Website: https://www.bbncreativemanagement.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/blairbnichols/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bbn_creativemgmt/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BBNCreativeManagement/
Email: blairbryant.nichols@gmail.com
#BusinessGrowth #PublicSpeaking #BlairNichols #CommunicationSkills #StorytellingForBusiness #EntrepreneurshipTips #BusinessCoaching #SuccessStrategies #OvercomeImposterSyndrome #SmallBusinessSuccess #PodcastForEntrepreneurs #SmallBusinessPivots #EmpowerEntrepreneurs #GrowYourBusiness #LeadershipDevelopment #SmallBusinessCoach #EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessSuccess #MarketingStrategies #LeadershipTips #IntrovertSuccess #CustomerRelationships #AmazonBestseller #BusinessPodcast #MichaelDMorrison #BOSS #BusinessOwnership #OklahomaCity
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, welcome to another Small Business, pivots.
We have a very special guestfrom around the world and, as I
say week to week, there's nobodylike the business owner that
can say their name and theirbusiness like the business owner
.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So tell us a little bit about yourself and why
you're here to help ourlisteners today I'm the owner of
BBN Creative Management and Ihelp a lot of different business
owners, entrepreneurs,different types of thought
leaders leverage speaking tohelp grow their business.
So when we talk about speaking,I'm talking about all different
(00:32):
ways that you can get out infront of audiences and potential
clients, et cetera.
But I know we'll dive all moreinto that.
But today, you know, I coach alot of different people in all
different stages of theirspeaking in business life, as
well as manage a handful of, youknow, prominent speakers that
are also, you know, leveragingtheir speaking beyond just
(00:54):
getting out there and getting onstages but, you know, have got
their different businesspursuits.
I love just kind of workingwith all different types of
people and figuring out uniquestrategies for them.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Fantastic.
Well, I know communication,speaking being out, kind of
being the face of the business,is kind of important, real
important for business owners.
So this will be a great topic,but let's introduce our show
first and we'll be right back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
(01:27):
I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(01:48):
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
All right, welcome back toSmall Biz Pivots.
We have a very special guestBlair.
You are where in the United.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
States.
I'm in Los Angeles, California,a hot place to be right now.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So this is the wildfires.
Is that what they call it,wildfires?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yes, yes, that's what we've been.
We've been experiencing thatthis week, so it's been pretty,
pretty crazy and devastating.
But you know, like we weretalking about earlier business,
as a business owner, you knowyou don't get too many days off.
You got to keep moving aheadand you want to grow things.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Absolutely.
Well, we're all saying prayersfor you.
I can't imagine what that'slike and the people there.
Well, let's talk about first.
I know for business owners,when they're listening to
podcasts, they kind of like toknow can I relate to this person
that's talking?
Do we have any common ground?
Do we align at all?
(02:49):
So tell us a little bit aboutyour upbringing, if you don't
mind, just so we can hear maybeany trials or tribulations,
because I know a lot of businessowners.
They feel like they're notworthy of being a business owner
and I'm like we're all the same.
We just have different stories.
So tell us being a businessowner and I'm like we're all the
same, we just have differentstories.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So tell us, catch us up to today.
Yeah, sure, so you know I Istarted my business officially
five years ago and it's reallybeen the last three that it's.
It's been my full-time pursuitand kind of building it.
So I I'm I'm probably aware alot of your listeners and
audience are at in my ownbusiness and was working for
different corporate agencies inthe speaking realm and the
(03:27):
publishing world and in LA andin New York prior to that.
But I always wanted to be inbusiness as a kid.
The funny thing my friends alllaugh at me because I was the
only kid that played office.
They actually had a kid's faxmachine that my parents got me
that had like carbon paper thatyou could write on and so it
would push out the paper likeyou would be receiving a fax and
(03:49):
we would go on business tripson bike rides and you know it
was.
It was definitely, I guess, abusiness minded kid, though I
don't recall ever doing anythinglike even a lemonade stand or
anything that I was actuallygenerating money other than just
playing at it until much later.
But I always I wanted to workat McDonald's as soon as I was
(04:10):
old enough, and my my parentsreally pushed me to just focus
on school and extracurriculars,and I was blessed to be able to
do that and not really startworking until I went to college
or right before college.
But I always knew that Iprobably needed to work for
myself, and I think that's maybewhere a lot of people start in
this world is they find thateither the people they've worked
(04:32):
for or with are then limited bykind of the structure of the
companies that they're alreadyin, and a lot of us need to
figure out and create forourselves what that looks like.
And a lot of times, though,that starts with you know being
able to tell your own story andto create your own value for
your time and services and howyou can max that out.
(04:54):
So you know it took me a whileto feel comfortable actually
going out on my own, that I wasof worth to you know my time
wasn't just worth you know asalary that ultimately breaks
down to you know who knows what.
You know the ultimate hours youput into any W-2 job, and that
(05:15):
I could make you know better, ifnot, you know, like relative
living at doing it myself.
So for me it was.
It was more just kind ofcontinuing to follow a path that
I didn't expect to find myselfon.
I didn't expect to be in thespeaking industry or working
with you know, thought leadersin this way, but every new
(05:37):
opportunity, I think, has justkind of continued further me on.
And and now what I realized asa kid I loved helping others
around me, like my.
My neighbor was deaf and I waskind of helped as like her
interpreter really.
So I've always been someonethat likes to help other people
get their voice heard and gettheir story out there and how
they can really shape whatthey're doing and how to find
(06:00):
their strengths and reflecttheir strengths.
And so I, the work that I'mdoing now I feel like it's just
really reflective of just like along journey of the things that
I've always been passionateabout.
Just didn't really know thatthis is where it would lead me.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Wow, let's go back to that first.
You mentioned you've done thisfor five years, correct?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, I mean I've been in this industry.
My business is I officiallystarted, you know, a little more
than five years, correct?
Yeah, I mean, I've been in thisindustry.
My business is I officiallystarted, you know, a little more
than five years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And then you did it full-time about three years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, so like going into 2021 and yeah, basically
just.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, we have all seasons of business owners, from
startups to second, thirdgenerations to.
We also have some that haven'tpulled the plug yet.
So I want to back up just asecond so you can give them a
voice of hope and someconfidence.
What that was like, becausemost people they don't know what
to do first, so they're still,10 years, 20 years later, going.
(07:01):
I wish I could start thatbusiness.
What, what kind of made, whattriggered you to actually start?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, I mean it's it's always circumstantial.
So when I first started thebusiness, it was cause I had
just lost a job and so I waslike, great, now I'll start this
, this business.
And then I got a new job.
I got, excuse me recruited fora new job rather quickly and I
was like, great, well, I cankeep job.
I got, excuse me, recruited fora new job rather quickly and I
was like, great, well, I cankeep building this business on
the side because I got started.
But I was lucky to have thebenefit of a you know, a salary
(07:32):
and a new job to keep me busyand everything else.
So I think a lot of timesobviously really depends on the
type of business that you'restarting.
But assuming you're providing aservice or you want to kind of
be out on your own in afreelance entrepreneurial
capacity, a lot of the people Iwork with, of course, are in
like the more service industryarea, you know, professional
services.
So I think if you can startgetting any portion of your time
(07:57):
paid for by people outside ofyour main job, it might give you
some some confidence that youcan build that.
You know, given how much timeit takes, I think a lot of times
.
You know people are afraid tostart what they might consider a
side hustle, but consider itmore like a transition.
You know, instead of just goingfrom zero you know zero to no
(08:17):
paycheck, why don't you justbuild up some clients and see
what you can manage?
You know, with your time andyou know nowadays it just is the
life of an entrepreneur.
I'm not an advocate for likegrind yourself till you burn out
or being all about the hustle.
You know, I think you have to bereally smart with your energy
(08:37):
and how you balance your time.
But I would just find that mostpeople with a 40 hour a week, I
would just find that most peoplewith a 40 hour a week, nine to
five job, probably find a lot offree time in their day that
they could be doing other thingsthat could promote their
business.
So I'm not I'm not saying doyour job, do your side hustle
during your work, but I wouldjust challenge whether or not,
(08:59):
like you know, you're maximizingall your time and if you can't
find better ways to to get thattime in, to get some clients
going, so long winded way ofjust saying you're always going
to have to sell your own timefirst, before you can, you know,
scale beyond that.
It's always about what, what youcan provide and the amount of
(09:19):
time you're able to.
So when you can start goingfrom maybe a you know six figure
salary and you're making likethat, going from maybe a you
know six figure salary andyou're making like that might
break down to a you know acouple hundred dollars an hour,
a hundred dollars an hour,whatever that looks like, uh, if
you can start charging two,three, four times that, then you
know start imagining how muchyou don't need to fill 40 hours
(09:41):
a week, then necessarily, youdon't, you can, you can be
comfortable and be, you know,selling less of your time and
figure out how to scale fromthere.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
We have as a business coach.
We have probably a dozen ormore that are kind of in that
transition of.
I have the hustle on the side,I still have my engineering job
or whatever it is.
In fact, we have probably fiveor six engineers.
But what helped you get thatleap?
Was it the amount of money thatyou're now making?
(10:13):
Or was it something you wereseeking?
Because I know a lot of them.
They're just afraid to pullthat next step.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's having the right clients
or the right number of clients.
So you know, it might it mighttake and like how again you
might be able to replace yoursalary with just one client and
(10:41):
then have additional clientsthat can start to really, you
know, grow your revenueexponentially.
So I think it's just peoplestructure how they pay
individual vendors differentlythan they pay full-time
employees and I think a lot ofpeople don't recognize that
that's that relationship can bedramatically different if you're
(11:02):
, if you're, if you do that, soif, if you have a, you know it's
hard for me.
I feel like I'm speaking suchgeneral terms you know, but you,
you understand your industryand what the value you provide.
And again, doing that as anindividual, your time is just
priced differently, you know,than taking someone on for all
(11:25):
of their benefits, all of their,you know, other things that a
company may offer.
So, by becoming your ownbusiness, like, you assume some
of these responsibilities foryourself.
But it also opens up all thesethings now you can deduct and
like, all these things thatbecome part of, you know,
running a business, that now youget the advantage of um in in a
(11:48):
different way.
So I think taking the leap isagain just just understanding,
like this is what I'm movinginto and I actually have, you
know, the potential to replacemy income with this other
revenue, or I have already, youknow, replaced a portion of my
income and I know that if Ispent more time, you know, I
(12:10):
could land X number of newclients, or this other client
will be able to, you know,contract me for this much more
work.
So, you know, it doesn't haveto be a real complicated thing,
but you have to be willing to,like, extend yourself into doing
this work while stillstraddling that full time job If
you're worried about againtaking the leap without having
(12:32):
something already lined up.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah well, I assure you there are no two general
tips or insights.
I work with many businessowners and I do the same thing.
Having owned businesses forover two and a half decades, I
just assume that they'veprobably heard this.
It's like a broken record andthey're like I don't even know
what you're talking about.
(12:55):
So, you know, any advice is goodadvice.
Coming from an entrepreneur andthis might be a one worded
answer I'm just curious, nowthat you're in it, you did it
like most people, you kind ofhad a side hustle and now you're
full time.
What's your favorite thingabout owning your own business?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean, I think it is the freedom of how I spend my
time and when and, mostimportantly, with who.
So that was the thing thattripped me up a lot in in
working with other people or,you know, having working at
agencies and not always havingthe choice of clients that you
work with and other things thatare, you know, again, outside
your control if, if you don'thave ownership and for me, that
(13:33):
just became a big priority, youknow, is a priority for me of my
lifestyle and how I wanted, youknow, my life to be and I like
being able to work remote andmove around, so the type of job
that I have and also, yeah, justgetting to choose how I spend
my days and that if no one'slooking over my shoulder to see
(13:54):
that I'm like clocking inexactly for eight hours or
anything else, like there's noquestion I get to decide and
that's also, you know, again,it's my responsibility.
Now I have to determine, youknow, how to fill my time and
productive ways and other things.
But that again is a blessing tome and that's what that's what
I wanted again is a blessing tome and that's what.
(14:17):
That's what I wanted, and Ithink some people want just to
have their activities laid outfor them and they want to clock
in, do their work and clock out.
But that's probably not you.
If you're an entrepreneur orbusiness owner, you're probably.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You're probably doing some mental, some mental time
outside of the office, I'mguessing, if nothing else, it's
interesting because I know a lotof listeners are still
considering taking that leapinto entrepreneurship and I hear
all kinds of reasons why theywant to.
But when I talk to seasonedentrepreneurs, 99% of the time
(14:47):
the reason they love owning abusiness now is freedom, and
most of the people that haven'tquite done that they're like, oh
, I could have a house here anda house on the beach.
And you know they're allthinking money, monetary things,
and but the entrepreneurs Italk to it's mostly freedom is
usually their answer.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
(15:08):
Well, let's get to how we canhelp them through your company,
which is about speakingcommunity.
You're listening to SmallBusiness Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, boss, which is about
speaking community to 48 hoursat
businessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
(15:39):
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
Well, let's get to how we canhelp them through your company,
which is about speakingcommunication.
Because, again, business ownersmost small business owners are
introverts.
They have imposter syndrome.
(15:59):
A lot of them we don't have.
You know, we don't feel worthy.
We have some self-doubt, maybefrom things that happened in our
childhood or in our adultinglife.
So let's talk about theservices that you provide first,
and then we'll see if we can'toffer some tips and insights to
help them overcome those fears.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, well, I mean I feel like there's different
paths for people as a speakerand I mean I have a strategy of
just a sustainable speakingstrategy.
I call it because I do thinkthere is an approach that if
you're considering speakingwhether it's to be paid by an
organization or a conference ora company, or it's really
(16:42):
strategic in the sense thatyou're looking for opportunities
to speak in front of a relevantaudience and for most of you,
the relevant audience ispotential clients I help people
figure out first three pillarsclients.
You know I help people figureout first three pillars.
First assets speaker assets.
Like you need to be able torepresent what your expertise is
(17:02):
.
So you talked about impostersyndrome.
I know that this is a struggleA lot of people.
You started a business for areason, and that's to make money
, to have freedom to all thethings.
But I hope that there's alsomaybe a mission to your business
, maybe there's a purpose towhat you do and the things you
provide and and and being ableto articulate that you know is
(17:23):
important as a business ownerand you can actually use that so
powerfully though in morestrategic speaking opportunities
in front of your ideal clientsand accelerate sales so much
faster than attending aconference.
Having a booth at a conference,just you know, trying to get
referrals or doing digital ads,like all of the steps that we
(17:47):
know work in converting peopleas customers are accelerated
when they see you as an experton stage.
You can make an emotionalconnection with them by telling
stories and doing more than justpitching your services, but by
actually providing value on atopic that's relevant to them.
And then, of course, they wantto know how to work with you or
(18:08):
what the opportunity is.
You know, and it's not going tobe every single person in the
audience, but there's just a lotof paths.
I think straight, you know, toyour customer, to your client,
to your business growth, toimportant people for your
business that speaking canprovide and I know it's scary
for people.
So, talking about impostersyndrome, I think that's when we
(18:31):
assume that everyone knows whatwe know.
It's not.
When are they going to find out?
I'm a fraud.
To me, it's oh, everyonealready knows this, like you
said.
Like, oh, everyone alreadyknows this stuff?
No, they don't.
You are an expert in somethingand you have your own story.
No one has your same background.
No one has experienced whatyou've experienced.
So how you wrap your knowledgeis always going to be unique,
(18:54):
and you need to remember that alot of people don't know what
you have to talk about.
But maybe key in figuring thatout is you've got to bring this
topic not to.
You know, like we say, singingto the choir.
A lot of times people think, okwell, I'm in finance so I'll go
speak at a finance conference.
Ok, great, is that going to getyou new clients?
(19:16):
Or is everyone there kind ofspeaking your same language?
So you're not really going tostand out.
You know, I've often said ifyou're a yoga teacher, you don't
want to go to the yogaconference, you want to speak at
the stressed out people'sconference.
So you know you're looking foryour customer, you're looking
for your client, but you're alsolooking for the environment
that needs what you have tooffer, because it's not what
(19:38):
everyone else is offering there,it's not what everyone else is
presenting on.
So as a small business owner,you're only going to be able to
pursue so many of these types ofopportunities Some of these,
actually, they cost money.
You'd be a sponsor of an eventto get in front of your ideal
audience.
It might be the best money youever spend, if you do a good job
(19:59):
and convert it into a lot morecustomers than whatever you
spent on a sponsorship.
But before you even get to thatlevel, there's a lot of free
opportunities, a lot of ways tohone your skills, but you got to
get out there and do it.
And I know if you're anintrovert, if that's most of
where people are at, it can bescary.
So what I will also say is,beyond the imposter syndrome,
(20:19):
you people know less than youthink they know.
You're also there to give a gift.
When people get stage fright orthey're nervous or I've worked
with you know big deal clientsthat are making tens of
thousands of dollars who stillget nervous going out on stage.
I remind them, like you're hereto give a gift and it's always,
usually a receptive audience.
It's not there to be critiqued,it's not, you know, the
(20:42):
Olympics or anything else likethat.
So sometimes it's those mindsetshifts and it's the higher
purpose, the advocation thatyou're there to give can ground
you more into what you're doing.
And and I'll and I'll be honesta lot of speakers are introverts
too.
They get out there and they doit on stage and they retreat and
they you know we've charged.
(21:04):
So just consider it like youknow.
Do you want to dump money intoads on digital and everything
else to try to get some churnfor your clients?
Maybe if you're an e-commercecompany, that's the best
strategy.
But if you're especiallysomeone that's in a thought
leadership space or, like wetalked about professional
services of any kind, if you'retrying to connect with humans,
go and connect with humans, andyou're going to do it a lot
(21:26):
better coming on stage ratherthan just trying to shake hands
or get people to stop by yourbooth or something else like
that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Yeah, we do sales coaching as well and we always
say people buy from those theyknow like and trust.
And it's hard for people toknow like and trust you if
they're just reading an email oryou've typed something on a
social media post.
I know a lot of business owners.
Let's talk about the stagefright.
You mentioned that because alot of business owners, if
(21:58):
they're at a networking groupand they're going around the
room having to give just a 15,20-second spill, I know business
owners that as it gets closerand closer to them they get more
and more frightened.
So I know our listeners forsome are probably going.
I can't even do that introducemyself at a networking event.
(22:19):
I can't imagine standing infront of people.
So do you have any tips toovercome that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, practice.
I mean I would not like not tomake it too simple, but most
people don't practice that.
I mean, we've all been there.
It's like, oh great, oh no, allof a sudden we have to
introduce ourselves.
What am I going to say?
But you can prepare for allthese things you have.
Having like a signature storyand knowing like this is kind of
my elevator version of this.
This is like when I'm meetingsomeone for the first time, I
(22:52):
kind of share like thesehighlights, like it's okay to be
prepared.
You don't have to be completelyscripted and be robotic, but as
a business owner again, ifyou're showing up at one of
these events, your time isvaluable, like got to make the
most of it.
Then have your, have your spieldown, have, have that 15, 20
seconds, whatever you knowhighlights you want to point out
for that audience and and be beready to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Uh, most of our listeners know that I'm an
introvert or grew up as anintrovert.
I'm not as much anymore, but Ihad to work on it, went to
Toastmasters and things likethat, and I'll agree with you A
practice, but B you have to beprepared.
The times that I'm not quiteprepared, like I don't have my
outro, like maybe I have thefirst and the middle all
(23:33):
polished up but haven't reallyquite nailed in the last part,
I'll start getting nervous onstage Cause I'm like I don't
know what I'm going to say.
And but when I have it from ato Z the you know at least the
bullet points that I'm trying tocover it goes smoothly.
And then, secondly, I know Ispeak in front of a lot of
people.
I've spoken in front of athousand plus people, so to me
(23:55):
that's a lot.
But during COVID, when I wasn'tpracticing, because everything
shut down, there were nospeaking events to be heard of,
everything was Zoom in front ofsmall crowds.
But that introvertness startedcoming back, and so it took me a
little bit to get out of myshell once the world started
opening and events startedhappening.
(24:16):
So that's right in line exactlywith what you're talking about,
and I'm not a professionalspeaker.
I was just letting ourlisteners know.
That's exactly it.
That's some great advice.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think one of the most annoying things about being
an adult is realizing howeverything is exercise.
But everything we do like itrequires, you know, keeping it
up, keeping it, keeping it,keeping it tone.
And I heard that from a lot ofspeakers, obviously not just the
depression that came from thepandemic and being home, because
(24:48):
a lot of speakers get a lot oftheir joy from being out there
and doing this, but that theyfelt then out of practice and,
you know, a little more stiltedas they came back.
And you know it's great thatvirtual will always have a place
now and there's going to beopportunities in that format,
but I know it's just not thefavorite for anyone.
(25:09):
I don't think it's a favorite tobe on the receiving end or the
speaking end and that's why Iencourage business owners to get
out and get in front of roomsof people that you know there is
a visceral, physical connection.
You get that from going toevents.
So now think about youropportunity to tell your story
to all these people at once, tomake that connection, make them
laugh, you know, maybe even makethem cry, depending on you.
(25:32):
Know I've heard, I hear a lotof stories.
People have got insane, crazystories.
So it's just such a goodopportunity, you know, like you
said, to get to be known, liked,maybe even trusted from from
what you share that you.
You know I wouldn't just try todo webinars, I wouldn't try to
just rely on digital.
You know that there's ways todeploy that and make the most of
(25:54):
it, and the best ways are torepurpose the video content from
your live events and, just like, circulate that online but show
them that you're out theredoing it and that you're an
expert.
And you know you can make a lotof one event, you know, or even
just a podcast interview.
This is great content that I'mgoing to use, you know, for my
(26:14):
business podcast interview.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
This is great content that I'm going to use, you know
, for my business.
A lot of business owners haveheard of accountants, marketers.
You know things for theirbusiness but probably a lot
haven't heard about your type ofservices.
So kind of share with us whatyou do, how you help, kind of
the process of how you can helpthem speak.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Sure.
So, yeah, I kind of started onlike describing my sustainable
speaking strategy earlier.
So the first is that thoseassets and obviously some people
, they've got those reallydialed in.
Usually, you know, we want tolook at those topics from the
customer's point of view.
Are we speaking their language?
Are you really like solving aproblem that's like hot in the
(26:57):
market right now, like it's justtaking an outsider's view and
helping you get all those piecestogether so that, as you want
to put yourself forward foropportunities and as you just
want people to find you and thensee that on your Web page, you
do speaking and eventually beinvited to speak, you know more
as it will help you do speakingand eventually be invited to
speak.
You know more as it will help.
(27:17):
That's all part of that firstpillar.
Second pillar, then, is whatare you doing with this?
So what is your go-to-marketstrategy?
And I'm going to skip to threereal fast, because that's
products and services.
So some people, again, they'vereally dialed in on speaking and
they don't have products andservices around their speaking,
don't have products and servicesaround their speaking, like
(27:37):
they're just getting booked tospeak, and they haven't really
converted those audiences intoongoing B2B clients or any B2C
channel.
So I'm helping them figure outwhat is the things that they
could be doing, based on whatthey speak about, their audience
, everything else, I feel likethere's always opportunities for
both.
If you're out there speakingthe people who are arranging the
event, what they speak about,their audience, everything else,
I feel like there's alwaysopportunities for both, like as
(27:58):
if you're out there speaking thepeople who are arranging the
event are strategic partners.
There's always ongoing B2Bopportunities with, potentially,
if you're there at a company,ongoing work with that company
in a broader way, et cetera,wanting to explore that.
But everyone in the audience isa B2C opportunity.
You know you're an expert.
These people can buy your booksor courses.
(28:21):
They can sign up for yourwebinars or your services.
They can.
You can put them in.
They're basically filling yourfunnel.
Speaking is filling your funnelin a very strategic way.
It's not thousands, usually youknow at once, but they're a
little bit more qualified,depending again on how well you
qualify the events you go after.
So that brings us to pillar twoand that is like your
go-to-market strategy.
Okay, I'm, I'm looking to reach, you know, people in the real
(28:44):
estate business, like that'sespecially.
You know specifically who I'mtargeting.
So focus your time and energywith those speaking assets, on
real estate events, on startinglocally, then grow from there.
Look into bigger events andconferences.
You can apply to be a speaker.
Like I mentioned, you cansponsor an event and get
speaking time and negotiate forthat.
(29:05):
You don't need your logo on alanyard or on a step and repeat
Like you need a contact list ofall the attendees, you need
stage time so you can actuallyget in front of all these
potential clients.
So I help coach people throughthat whole process.
Like usually you know it startsat 90 days to like we can cover
(29:25):
those three pillars and get youon your way and, you know, move
faster.
I, you know, I've coached somepeople for two years and we meet
monthly and I'm continuing tohelp them iterate and grow their
business and take those nextsteps.
But really, no matter whereyou're at, you know, someone's
usually got one of those of onelike either they've got the
products and services kind offigured out and we got to figure
(29:47):
out the speaking strategy, orvice versa, and then bridging
the two I think is my sweet spotof making the most of what you
do as a speaker for yourbusiness, because I don't think
you should just pursue speakingto speak.
As we talked about already, thepandemic came and a lot of
people lost.
Their entire revenue channelwas in-person speaking and
(30:09):
they're making good money, likehundreds of thousands of dollars
good money, and that went away.
So, not just since then, butespecially since then, I've been
a big advocate for you need todiversify your portfolio as a
business owner and if speakingis something you're passionate
about, I'm advocating that it'sa great tool to grow your
business, but that also it's agreat tool to really grow any
(30:33):
business that there's productsand services that might come off
of speaking that aren't even inyour portfolio now.
That would make sense becauseof what you're doing with
speaking as well.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, and this, so really the coaching is what I
offer people.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You know I I work with speakers as well, who are
higher level, but but that's.
You know where a lot of peoplestart and and you know we have
opportunity to grow ourrelationship too.
But I like to start as a coachand as an advisor.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And I can't think of any industry, contractors
included that doesn't have astory, that can't share
something that someone doesn'tknow.
I promise every listener onhere, I've seen them all.
I've seen funny contractors,funny plumbers, I've seen you
know, and it just all it does israises their brand, their
authority in the industry.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Well, and you mentioned plumbers, that was one
of my favorite examples is aplumber who started a YouTube
channel not to just sharecontent about himself, but just
to show repairs and talk, andgot so many more clients out of,
you know, helping people solvesimple plumbing things, that
that group blew up his platform.
So there's stages and platformsand all these different ways
(31:45):
that you can, you know, get yourbusiness out there if you're
the one providing value andknowledge knowledge.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Well, I encourage all of our listeners to reach out
to you because I know, prior toCOVID, when I was speaking at
events, that was my second bestlead generation source that we
used.
One was referrals, number twowas speaking engagements and
then, of course, digitalmarketing and other things, but
there's nothing like speaking atthe right event, like you
mentioned, and having 10 peoplecome to you and wait till you're
(32:19):
done talking to this person,then that person, then that
person collecting their contactinformation.
It's a great lead gen source.
How can people continue tofollow you, because I'm sure
they're going to want to knowmore.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Sure, yeah.
Well, you can find me on theusual platforms LinkedIn,
instagram, blair Bryant Nicholsand BBN Creative Management, and
you can also find me on mywebsite,
bbncreativemanagementcom, andyou can sign up for a free 30
minute call.
Let me know where you're at.
Hopefully I can help you figureout your next best step.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, again, listeners, I encourage you to
reach out to Blair.
This is a channel that youprobably haven't thought about.
That isn't just oh, what wouldyou call it?
Just in the masses.
You know, not many people getup and speak.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
You can get niche.
You can get niche in youraudience.
You can get really strategicwith high level.
Like you said, 10 peoplewaiting for you afterwards is
great.
Sometimes, having a room of 10CEOs is the best gig you're ever
going to do.
Yeah, those people can.
Any one of those you knowaudience members can now be a
big deal client.
So there's there's not justthinking about stadiums and huge
(33:26):
conference halls.
You know doesn't define you asa speaker.
You know, just being able toget up in front of any room and
move them towards you know someof your business goals, I think
is a really powerful thing to doand I hope yeah, I hope you all
consider that as part of yournew 2025 strategy.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Fantastic.
Well, was there anything thatwe didn't cover that you were
like?
I really want to share this.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Oh man, no, we could nerd out forever.
I mean I can get in the weedsor zoom out, but yeah, feel free
to have me back or people reachout and be happy to chat and
answer your questions.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Fantastic.
Well, I always end our showswith a final question.
It's simple.
If you want to take a second tothink about it, that's fine as
well.
But if you were in front of aroom of small business owners,
what is one piece of advice youcould give that is applicable to
no matter what kind of businessthey own, how long they've been
in business so it could be aquote, a book, you know some
(34:18):
insight, what's something thatyou would share with them.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Sure.
Well, it's similar to somethingI shared earlier, but maybe
just kind of wrapping it up fortoday.
You know, no matter whatbusiness you're in, and no
matter if you're, you know, inthe room of everyone else is
looking like their business isjust like yours.
You're all real estate peopleor you're all finance services.
Whatever it may be, no one hasyour story.
No one else can tell your samestory about how you got to where
(34:44):
you are and what you're doing.
Everyone loves to connect withpeople through their stories and
being able to share that, Ithink, is one of the biggest,
you know, most powerful thingsthat you can do.
And don't fall prey to thinkingthat you're just like every
other you know place.
You're not like every otherplace.
(35:05):
You've got your own mission,your own story, and hopefully
you'll keep that in mind if anyof that imposter syndrome does
creep in All right.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Well, you've been a blessing to many.
I appreciate your time and Iimposter syndrome does creep in
All right.
Well, you've been a blessing tomany.
I appreciate your time, and Iknow our audience does as well
and wish you a prosperous 2025.
Thank you so much for having memy pleasure.
Thank you for listening tosmall business pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company boss.
Our business is growing.
Yours Boss offers flexiblebusiness loans with business
(35:37):
coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
(35:58):
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
All right, welcome to another Small Business, pivots.
We have a very special guestfrom around the world and, as I
say week to week, there's nobodylike the business owner that
can say their name and theirbusiness like the business owner
.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
So tell us a little bit about yourself and why
you're here to help ourlisteners today I'm the owner of
BBN Creative Management and Ihelp a lot of different business
owners, entrepreneurs,different types of thought
leaders leverage speaking tohelp grow their business.
So when we talk about speaking,I'm talking about all different
(00:32):
ways that you can get out infront of audiences and potential
clients, et cetera.
But I know we'll dive all moreinto that.
But today, you know, I coach alot of different people in all
different stages of theirspeaking in business life, as
well as manage a handful of, youknow, prominent speakers that
are also, you know, leveragingtheir speaking beyond just
(00:54):
getting out there and getting onstages but, you know, have got
their different businesspursuits.
I love just kind of workingwith all different types of
people and figuring out uniquestrategies for them.
Speaker 1 (01:07):
Fantastic.
Well, I know communication,speaking being out, kind of
being the face of the business,is kind of important, real
important for business owners.
So this will be a great topic,but let's introduce our show
first and we'll be right back.
Welcome to Small BusinessPivots, a podcast produced for
small business owners.
(01:27):
I'm your host, Michael Morrison, founder and CEO of BOSS, where
we make business ownershipsimplified for success.
Our business is helping yoursgrow.
Boss offers business loans withbusiness coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
(01:48):
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
All right, welcome back toSmall Biz Pivots.
We have a very special guestBlair.
You are where in the United.
Speaker 2 (02:03):
States.
I'm in Los Angeles, California,a hot place to be right now.
Speaker 1 (02:09):
So this is the wildfires.
Is that what they call it,wildfires?
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Yes, yes, that's what we've been.
We've been experiencing thatthis week, so it's been pretty,
pretty crazy and devastating.
But you know, like we weretalking about earlier business,
as a business owner, you knowyou don't get too many days off.
You got to keep moving aheadand you want to grow things.
Speaker 1 (02:29):
Absolutely.
Well, we're all saying prayersfor you.
I can't imagine what that'slike and the people there.
Well, let's talk about first.
I know for business owners,when they're listening to
podcasts, they kind of like toknow can I relate to this person
that's talking?
Do we have any common ground?
Do we align at all?
(02:49):
So tell us a little bit aboutyour upbringing, if you don't
mind, just so we can hear maybeany trials or tribulations,
because I know a lot of businessowners.
They feel like they're notworthy of being a business owner
and I'm like we're all the same.
We just have different stories.
So tell us being a businessowner and I'm like we're all the
same, we just have differentstories.
Speaker 2 (03:06):
So tell us, catch us up to today.
Yeah, sure, so you know I Istarted my business officially
five years ago and it's reallybeen the last three that it's.
It's been my full-time pursuitand kind of building it.
So I I'm I'm probably aware alot of your listeners and
audience are at in my ownbusiness and was working for
different corporate agencies inthe speaking realm and the
(03:27):
publishing world and in LA andin New York prior to that.
But I always wanted to be inbusiness as a kid.
The funny thing my friends alllaugh at me because I was the
only kid that played office.
They actually had a kid's faxmachine that my parents got me
that had like carbon paper thatyou could write on and so it
would push out the paper likeyou would be receiving a fax and
(03:49):
we would go on business tripson bike rides and you know it
was.
It was definitely, I guess, abusiness minded kid, though I
don't recall ever doing anythinglike even a lemonade stand or
anything that I was actuallygenerating money other than just
playing at it until much later.
But I always I wanted to workat McDonald's as soon as I was
(04:10):
old enough, and my my parentsreally pushed me to just focus
on school and extracurriculars,and I was blessed to be able to
do that and not really startworking until I went to college
or right before college.
But I always knew that Iprobably needed to work for
myself, and I think that's maybewhere a lot of people start in
this world is they find thateither the people they've worked
(04:32):
for or with are then limited bykind of the structure of the
companies that they're alreadyin, and a lot of us need to
figure out and create forourselves what that looks like.
And a lot of times, though,that starts with you know being
able to tell your own story andto create your own value for
your time and services and howyou can max that out.
(04:54):
So you know it took me a whileto feel comfortable actually
going out on my own, that I wasof worth to you know my time
wasn't just worth you know asalary that ultimately breaks
down to you know who knows what.
You know the ultimate hours youput into any W-2 job, and that
(05:15):
I could make you know better, ifnot, you know, like relative
living at doing it myself.
So for me it was.
It was more just kind ofcontinuing to follow a path that
I didn't expect to find myselfon.
I didn't expect to be in thespeaking industry or working
with you know, thought leadersin this way, but every new
(05:37):
opportunity, I think, has justkind of continued further me on.
And and now what I realized asa kid I loved helping others
around me, like my.
My neighbor was deaf and I waskind of helped as like her
interpreter really.
So I've always been someonethat likes to help other people
get their voice heard and gettheir story out there and how
they can really shape whatthey're doing and how to find
(06:00):
their strengths and reflecttheir strengths.
And so I, the work that I'mdoing now I feel like it's just
really reflective of just like along journey of the things that
I've always been passionateabout.
Just didn't really know thatthis is where it would lead me.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
Wow, let's go back to that first.
You mentioned you've done thisfor five years, correct?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Yeah, I mean I've been in this industry.
My business is I officiallystarted, you know, a little more
than five years, correct?
Yeah, I mean, I've been in thisindustry.
My business is I officiallystarted, you know, a little more
than five years ago.
Speaker 1 (06:29):
And then you did it full-time about three years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Yeah, so like going into 2021 and yeah, basically
just.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Well, we have all seasons of business owners, from
startups to second, thirdgenerations to.
We also have some that haven'tpulled the plug yet.
So I want to back up just asecond so you can give them a
voice of hope and someconfidence.
What that was like, becausemost people they don't know what
to do first, so they're still,10 years, 20 years later, going.
(07:01):
I wish I could start thatbusiness.
What, what kind of made, whattriggered you to actually start?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, I mean it's it's always circumstantial.
So when I first started thebusiness, it was cause I had
just lost a job and so I waslike, great, now I'll start this
, this business.
And then I got a new job.
I got, excuse me recruited fora new job rather quickly and I
was like, great, well, I cankeep job.
I got, excuse me, recruited fora new job rather quickly and I
was like, great, well, I cankeep building this business on
the side because I got started.
But I was lucky to have thebenefit of a you know, a salary
(07:32):
and a new job to keep me busyand everything else.
So I think a lot of timesobviously really depends on the
type of business that you'restarting.
But assuming you're providing aservice or you want to kind of
be out on your own in afreelance entrepreneurial
capacity, a lot of the people Iwork with, of course, are in
like the more service industryarea, you know, professional
services.
So I think if you can startgetting any portion of your time
(07:57):
paid for by people outside ofyour main job, it might give you
some some confidence that youcan build that.
You know, given how much timeit takes, I think a lot of times
.
You know people are afraid tostart what they might consider a
side hustle, but consider itmore like a transition.
You know, instead of just goingfrom zero you know zero to no
(08:17):
paycheck, why don't you justbuild up some clients and see
what you can manage?
You know, with your time andyou know nowadays it just is the
life of an entrepreneur.
I'm not an advocate for likegrind yourself till you burn out
or being all about the hustle.
You know, I think you have to bereally smart with your energy
(08:37):
and how you balance your time.
But I would just find that mostpeople with a 40 hour a week, I
would just find that most peoplewith a 40 hour a week, nine to
five job, probably find a lot offree time in their day that
they could be doing other thingsthat could promote their
business.
So I'm not I'm not saying doyour job, do your side hustle
during your work, but I wouldjust challenge whether or not,
(08:59):
like you know, you're maximizingall your time and if you can't
find better ways to to get thattime in, to get some clients
going, so long winded way ofjust saying you're always going
to have to sell your own timefirst, before you can, you know,
scale beyond that.
It's always about what, what youcan provide and the amount of
(09:19):
time you're able to.
So when you can start goingfrom maybe a you know six figure
salary and you're making likethat, going from maybe a you
know six figure salary andyou're making like that might
break down to a you know acouple hundred dollars an hour,
a hundred dollars an hour,whatever that looks like, uh, if
you can start charging two,three, four times that, then you
know start imagining how muchyou don't need to fill 40 hours
(09:41):
a week, then necessarily, youdon't, you can, you can be
comfortable and be, you know,selling less of your time and
figure out how to scale fromthere.
Speaker 1 (09:51):
We have as a business coach.
We have probably a dozen ormore that are kind of in that
transition of.
I have the hustle on the side,I still have my engineering job
or whatever it is.
In fact, we have probably fiveor six engineers.
But what helped you get thatleap?
Was it the amount of money thatyou're now making?
(10:13):
Or was it something you wereseeking?
Because I know a lot of them.
They're just afraid to pullthat next step.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Yeah, I mean, I think it's having the right clients
or the right number of clients.
So you know, it might it mighttake and like how again you
might be able to replace yoursalary with just one client and
(10:41):
then have additional clientsthat can start to really, you
know, grow your revenueexponentially.
So I think it's just peoplestructure how they pay
individual vendors differentlythan they pay full-time
employees and I think a lot ofpeople don't recognize that
that's that relationship can bedramatically different if you're
(11:02):
, if you're, if you do that, soif, if you have a, you know it's
hard for me.
I feel like I'm speaking suchgeneral terms you know, but you,
you understand your industryand what the value you provide.
And again, doing that as anindividual, your time is just
priced differently, you know,than taking someone on for all
(11:25):
of their benefits, all of their,you know, other things that a
company may offer.
So, by becoming your ownbusiness, like, you assume some
of these responsibilities foryourself.
But it also opens up all thesethings now you can deduct and
like, all these things thatbecome part of, you know,
running a business, that now youget the advantage of um in in a
(11:48):
different way.
So I think taking the leap isagain just just understanding,
like this is what I'm movinginto and I actually have, you
know, the potential to replacemy income with this other
revenue, or I have already, youknow, replaced a portion of my
income and I know that if Ispent more time, you know, I
(12:10):
could land X number of newclients, or this other client
will be able to, you know,contract me for this much more
work.
So, you know, it doesn't haveto be a real complicated thing,
but you have to be willing to,like, extend yourself into doing
this work while stillstraddling that full time job If
you're worried about againtaking the leap without having
(12:32):
something already lined up.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yeah well, I assure you there are no two general
tips or insights.
I work with many businessowners and I do the same thing.
Having owned businesses forover two and a half decades, I
just assume that they'veprobably heard this.
It's like a broken record andthey're like I don't even know
what you're talking about.
(12:55):
So, you know, any advice is goodadvice.
Coming from an entrepreneur andthis might be a one worded
answer I'm just curious, nowthat you're in it, you did it
like most people, you kind ofhad a side hustle and now you're
full time.
What's your favorite thingabout owning your own business?
Speaker 2 (13:11):
I mean, I think it is the freedom of how I spend my
time and when and, mostimportantly, with who.
So that was the thing thattripped me up a lot in in
working with other people or,you know, having working at
agencies and not always havingthe choice of clients that you
work with and other things thatare, you know, again, outside
your control if, if you don'thave ownership and for me, that
(13:33):
just became a big priority, youknow, is a priority for me of my
lifestyle and how I wanted, youknow, my life to be and I like
being able to work remote andmove around, so the type of job
that I have and also, yeah, justgetting to choose how I spend
my days and that if no one'slooking over my shoulder to see
(13:54):
that I'm like clocking inexactly for eight hours or
anything else, like there's noquestion I get to decide and
that's also, you know, again,it's my responsibility.
Now I have to determine, youknow, how to fill my time and
productive ways and other things.
But that again is a blessing tome and that's what that's what
I wanted again is a blessing tome and that's what.
(14:17):
That's what I wanted, and Ithink some people want just to
have their activities laid outfor them and they want to clock
in, do their work and clock out.
But that's probably not you.
If you're an entrepreneur orbusiness owner, you're probably.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
You're probably doing some mental, some mental time
outside of the office, I'mguessing, if nothing else, it's
interesting because I know a lotof listeners are still
considering taking that leapinto entrepreneurship and I hear
all kinds of reasons why theywant to.
But when I talk to seasonedentrepreneurs, 99% of the time
(14:47):
the reason they love owning abusiness now is freedom, and
most of the people that haven'tquite done that they're like, oh
, I could have a house here anda house on the beach.
And you know they're allthinking money, monetary things,
and but the entrepreneurs Italk to it's mostly freedom is
usually their answer.
So I appreciate you sharingthat.
(15:08):
Well, let's get to how we canhelp them through your company,
which is about speakingcommunity.
You're listening to SmallBusiness Pivots.
This podcast is produced by mycompany, boss, which is about
speaking community to 48 hoursat
businessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
(15:39):
subscribe button and share it aswell.
Now let's get back to ourspecial guest.
Well, let's get to how we canhelp them through your company,
which is about speakingcommunication.
Because, again, business ownersmost small business owners are
introverts.
They have imposter syndrome.
(15:59):
A lot of them we don't have.
You know, we don't feel worthy.
We have some self-doubt, maybefrom things that happened in our
childhood or in our adultinglife.
So let's talk about theservices that you provide first,
and then we'll see if we can'toffer some tips and insights to
help them overcome those fears.
Speaker 2 (16:20):
Yeah, well, I mean I feel like there's different
paths for people as a speakerand I mean I have a strategy of
just a sustainable speakingstrategy.
I call it because I do thinkthere is an approach that if
you're considering speakingwhether it's to be paid by an
organization or a conference ora company, or it's really
(16:42):
strategic in the sense thatyou're looking for opportunities
to speak in front of a relevantaudience and for most of you,
the relevant audience ispotential clients I help people
figure out first three pillarsclients.
You know I help people figureout first three pillars.
First assets speaker assets.
Like you need to be able torepresent what your expertise is
(17:02):
.
So you talked about impostersyndrome.
I know that this is a struggleA lot of people.
You started a business for areason, and that's to make money
, to have freedom to all thethings.
But I hope that there's alsomaybe a mission to your business
, maybe there's a purpose towhat you do and the things you
provide and and and being ableto articulate that you know is
(17:23):
important as a business ownerand you can actually use that so
powerfully though in morestrategic speaking opportunities
in front of your ideal clientsand accelerate sales so much
faster than attending aconference.
Having a booth at a conference,just you know, trying to get
referrals or doing digital ads,like all of the steps that we
(17:47):
know work in converting peopleas customers are accelerated
when they see you as an experton stage.
You can make an emotionalconnection with them by telling
stories and doing more than justpitching your services, but by
actually providing value on atopic that's relevant to them.
And then, of course, they wantto know how to work with you or
(18:08):
what the opportunity is.
You know, and it's not going tobe every single person in the
audience, but there's just a lotof paths.
I think straight, you know, toyour customer, to your client,
to your business growth, toimportant people for your
business that speaking canprovide and I know it's scary
for people.
So, talking about impostersyndrome, I think that's when we
(18:31):
assume that everyone knows whatwe know.
It's not.
When are they going to find out?
I'm a fraud.
To me, it's oh, everyonealready knows this, like you
said.
Like, oh, everyone alreadyknows this stuff?
No, they don't.
You are an expert in somethingand you have your own story.
No one has your same background.
No one has experienced whatyou've experienced.
So how you wrap your knowledgeis always going to be unique,
(18:54):
and you need to remember that alot of people don't know what
you have to talk about.
But maybe key in figuring thatout is you've got to bring this
topic not to.
You know, like we say, singingto the choir.
A lot of times people think, okwell, I'm in finance so I'll go
speak at a finance conference.
Ok, great, is that going to getyou new clients?
(19:16):
Or is everyone there kind ofspeaking your same language?
So you're not really going tostand out.
You know, I've often said ifyou're a yoga teacher, you don't
want to go to the yogaconference, you want to speak at
the stressed out people'sconference.
So you know you're looking foryour customer, you're looking
for your client, but you're alsolooking for the environment
that needs what you have tooffer, because it's not what
(19:38):
everyone else is offering there,it's not what everyone else is
presenting on.
So as a small business owner,you're only going to be able to
pursue so many of these types ofopportunities Some of these,
actually, they cost money.
You'd be a sponsor of an eventto get in front of your ideal
audience.
It might be the best money youever spend, if you do a good job
(19:59):
and convert it into a lot morecustomers than whatever you
spent on a sponsorship.
But before you even get to thatlevel, there's a lot of free
opportunities, a lot of ways tohone your skills, but you got to
get out there and do it.
And I know if you're anintrovert, if that's most of
where people are at, it can bescary.
So what I will also say is,beyond the imposter syndrome,
(20:19):
you people know less than youthink they know.
You're also there to give a gift.
When people get stage fright orthey're nervous or I've worked
with you know big deal clientsthat are making tens of
thousands of dollars who stillget nervous going out on stage.
I remind them, like you're hereto give a gift and it's always,
usually a receptive audience.
It's not there to be critiqued,it's not, you know, the
(20:42):
Olympics or anything else likethat.
So sometimes it's those mindsetshifts and it's the higher
purpose, the advocation thatyou're there to give can ground
you more into what you're doing.
And and I'll and I'll be honesta lot of speakers are introverts
too.
They get out there and they doit on stage and they retreat and
they you know we've charged.
(21:04):
So just consider it like youknow.
Do you want to dump money intoads on digital and everything
else to try to get some churnfor your clients?
Maybe if you're an e-commercecompany, that's the best
strategy.
But if you're especiallysomeone that's in a thought
leadership space or, like wetalked about professional
services of any kind, if you'retrying to connect with humans,
go and connect with humans, andyou're going to do it a lot
(21:26):
better coming on stage ratherthan just trying to shake hands
or get people to stop by yourbooth or something else like
that.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
Yeah, we do sales coaching as well and we always
say people buy from those theyknow like and trust.
And it's hard for people toknow like and trust you if
they're just reading an email oryou've typed something on a
social media post.
I know a lot of business owners.
Let's talk about the stagefright.
You mentioned that because alot of business owners, if
(21:58):
they're at a networking groupand they're going around the
room having to give just a 15,20-second spill, I know business
owners that as it gets closerand closer to them they get more
and more frightened.
So I know our listeners forsome are probably going.
I can't even do that introducemyself at a networking event.
(22:19):
I can't imagine standing infront of people.
So do you have any tips toovercome that?
Speaker 2 (22:25):
Yeah, practice.
I mean I would not like not tomake it too simple, but most
people don't practice that.
I mean, we've all been there.
It's like, oh great, oh no, allof a sudden we have to
introduce ourselves.
What am I going to say?
But you can prepare for allthese things you have.
Having like a signature storyand knowing like this is kind of
my elevator version of this.
This is like when I'm meetingsomeone for the first time, I
(22:52):
kind of share like thesehighlights, like it's okay to be
prepared.
You don't have to be completelyscripted and be robotic, but as
a business owner again, ifyou're showing up at one of
these events, your time isvaluable, like got to make the
most of it.
Then have your, have your spieldown, have, have that 15, 20
seconds, whatever you knowhighlights you want to point out
for that audience and and be beready to do it.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Uh, most of our listeners know that I'm an
introvert or grew up as anintrovert.
I'm not as much anymore, but Ihad to work on it, went to
Toastmasters and things likethat, and I'll agree with you A
practice, but B you have to beprepared.
The times that I'm not quiteprepared, like I don't have my
outro, like maybe I have thefirst and the middle all
(23:33):
polished up but haven't reallyquite nailed in the last part,
I'll start getting nervous onstage Cause I'm like I don't
know what I'm going to say.
And but when I have it from ato Z the you know at least the
bullet points that I'm trying tocover it goes smoothly.
And then, secondly, I know Ispeak in front of a lot of
people.
I've spoken in front of athousand plus people, so to me
(23:55):
that's a lot.
But during COVID, when I wasn'tpracticing, because everything
shut down, there were nospeaking events to be heard of,
everything was Zoom in front ofsmall crowds.
But that introvertness startedcoming back, and so it took me a
little bit to get out of myshell once the world started
opening and events startedhappening.
(24:16):
So that's right in line exactlywith what you're talking about,
and I'm not a professionalspeaker.
I was just letting ourlisteners know.
That's exactly it.
That's some great advice.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
I think one of the most annoying things about being
an adult is realizing howeverything is exercise.
But everything we do like itrequires, you know, keeping it
up, keeping it, keeping it,keeping it tone.
And I heard that from a lot ofspeakers, obviously not just the
depression that came from thepandemic and being home, because
(24:48):
a lot of speakers get a lot oftheir joy from being out there
and doing this, but that theyfelt then out of practice and,
you know, a little more stiltedas they came back.
And you know it's great thatvirtual will always have a place
now and there's going to beopportunities in that format,
but I know it's just not thefavorite for anyone.
(25:09):
I don't think it's a favorite tobe on the receiving end or the
speaking end and that's why Iencourage business owners to get
out and get in front of roomsof people that you know there is
a visceral, physical connection.
You get that from going toevents.
So now think about youropportunity to tell your story
to all these people at once, tomake that connection, make them
laugh, you know, maybe even makethem cry, depending on you.
(25:32):
Know I've heard, I hear a lotof stories.
People have got insane, crazystories.
So it's just such a goodopportunity, you know, like you
said, to get to be known, liked,maybe even trusted from from
what you share that you.
You know I wouldn't just try todo webinars, I wouldn't try to
just rely on digital.
You know that there's ways todeploy that and make the most of
(25:54):
it, and the best ways are torepurpose the video content from
your live events and, just like, circulate that online but show
them that you're out theredoing it and that you're an
expert.
And you know you can make a lotof one event, you know, or even
just a podcast interview.
This is great content that I'mgoing to use, you know, for my
(26:14):
business podcast interview.
Speaker 1 (26:18):
This is great content that I'm going to use, you know
, for my business.
A lot of business owners haveheard of accountants, marketers.
You know things for theirbusiness but probably a lot
haven't heard about your type ofservices.
So kind of share with us whatyou do, how you help, kind of
the process of how you can helpthem speak.
Speaker 2 (26:35):
Sure.
So, yeah, I kind of started onlike describing my sustainable
speaking strategy earlier.
So the first is that thoseassets and obviously some people
, they've got those reallydialed in.
Usually, you know, we want tolook at those topics from the
customer's point of view.
Are we speaking their language?
Are you really like solving aproblem that's like hot in the
(26:57):
market right now, like it's justtaking an outsider's view and
helping you get all those piecestogether so that, as you want
to put yourself forward foropportunities and as you just
want people to find you and thensee that on your Web page, you
do speaking and eventually beinvited to speak, you know more
as it will help you do speakingand eventually be invited to
speak.
You know more as it will help.
(27:17):
That's all part of that firstpillar.
Second pillar, then, is whatare you doing with this?
So what is your go-to-marketstrategy?
And I'm going to skip to threereal fast, because that's
products and services.
So some people, again, they'vereally dialed in on speaking and
they don't have products andservices around their speaking,
don't have products and servicesaround their speaking, like
(27:37):
they're just getting booked tospeak, and they haven't really
converted those audiences intoongoing B2B clients or any B2C
channel.
So I'm helping them figure outwhat is the things that they
could be doing, based on whatthey speak about, their audience
, everything else, I feel likethere's always opportunities for
both.
If you're out there speakingthe people who are arranging the
event, what they speak about,their audience, everything else,
I feel like there's alwaysopportunities for both, like as
(27:58):
if you're out there speaking thepeople who are arranging the
event are strategic partners.
There's always ongoing B2Bopportunities with, potentially,
if you're there at a company,ongoing work with that company
in a broader way, et cetera,wanting to explore that.
But everyone in the audience isa B2C opportunity.
You know you're an expert.
These people can buy your booksor courses.
(28:21):
They can sign up for yourwebinars or your services.
They can.
You can put them in.
They're basically filling yourfunnel.
Speaking is filling your funnelin a very strategic way.
It's not thousands, usually youknow at once, but they're a
little bit more qualified,depending again on how well you
qualify the events you go after.
So that brings us to pillar twoand that is like your
go-to-market strategy.
Okay, I'm, I'm looking to reach, you know, people in the real
(28:44):
estate business, like that'sespecially.
You know specifically who I'mtargeting.
So focus your time and energywith those speaking assets, on
real estate events, on startinglocally, then grow from there.
Look into bigger events andconferences.
You can apply to be a speaker.
Like I mentioned, you cansponsor an event and get
speaking time and negotiate forthat.
(29:05):
You don't need your logo on alanyard or on a step and repeat
Like you need a contact list ofall the attendees, you need
stage time so you can actuallyget in front of all these
potential clients.
So I help coach people throughthat whole process.
Like usually you know it startsat 90 days to like we can cover
(29:25):
those three pillars and get youon your way and, you know, move
faster.
I, you know, I've coached somepeople for two years and we meet
monthly and I'm continuing tohelp them iterate and grow their
business and take those nextsteps.
But really, no matter whereyou're at, you know, someone's
usually got one of those of onelike either they've got the
products and services kind offigured out and we got to figure
(29:47):
out the speaking strategy, orvice versa, and then bridging
the two I think is my sweet spotof making the most of what you
do as a speaker for yourbusiness, because I don't think
you should just pursue speakingto speak.
As we talked about already, thepandemic came and a lot of
people lost.
Their entire revenue channelwas in-person speaking and
(30:09):
they're making good money, likehundreds of thousands of dollars
good money, and that went away.
So, not just since then, butespecially since then, I've been
a big advocate for you need todiversify your portfolio as a
business owner and if speakingis something you're passionate
about, I'm advocating that it'sa great tool to grow your
business, but that also it's agreat tool to really grow any
(30:33):
business that there's productsand services that might come off
of speaking that aren't even inyour portfolio now.
That would make sense becauseof what you're doing with
speaking as well.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
Yeah, and this, so really the coaching is what I
offer people.
Speaker 2 (30:47):
You know I I work with speakers as well, who are
higher level, but but that's.
You know where a lot of peoplestart and and you know we have
opportunity to grow ourrelationship too.
But I like to start as a coachand as an advisor.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
And I can't think of any industry, contractors
included that doesn't have astory, that can't share
something that someone doesn'tknow.
I promise every listener onhere, I've seen them all.
I've seen funny contractors,funny plumbers, I've seen you
know, and it just all it does israises their brand, their
authority in the industry.
Speaker 2 (31:23):
Well, and you mentioned plumbers, that was one
of my favorite examples is aplumber who started a YouTube
channel not to just sharecontent about himself, but just
to show repairs and talk, andgot so many more clients out of,
you know, helping people solvesimple plumbing things, that
that group blew up his platform.
So there's stages and platformsand all these different ways
(31:45):
that you can, you know, get yourbusiness out there if you're
the one providing value andknowledge knowledge.
Speaker 1 (31:59):
Well, I encourage all of our listeners to reach out
to you because I know, prior toCOVID, when I was speaking at
events, that was my second bestlead generation source that we
used.
One was referrals, number twowas speaking engagements and
then, of course, digitalmarketing and other things, but
there's nothing like speaking atthe right event, like you
mentioned, and having 10 peoplecome to you and wait till you're
(32:19):
done talking to this person,then that person, then that
person collecting their contactinformation.
It's a great lead gen source.
How can people continue tofollow you, because I'm sure
they're going to want to knowmore.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Sure, yeah.
Well, you can find me on theusual platforms LinkedIn,
instagram, blair Bryant Nicholsand BBN Creative Management, and
you can also find me on mywebsite,
bbncreativemanagementcom, andyou can sign up for a free 30
minute call.
Let me know where you're at.
Hopefully I can help you figureout your next best step.
Speaker 1 (32:49):
Yeah, again, listeners, I encourage you to
reach out to Blair.
This is a channel that youprobably haven't thought about.
That isn't just oh, what wouldyou call it?
Just in the masses.
You know, not many people getup and speak.
Speaker 2 (33:04):
You can get niche.
You can get niche in youraudience.
You can get really strategicwith high level.
Like you said, 10 peoplewaiting for you afterwards is
great.
Sometimes, having a room of 10CEOs is the best gig you're ever
going to do.
Yeah, those people can.
Any one of those you knowaudience members can now be a
big deal client.
So there's there's not justthinking about stadiums and huge
(33:26):
conference halls.
You know doesn't define you asa speaker.
You know, just being able toget up in front of any room and
move them towards you know someof your business goals, I think
is a really powerful thing to doand I hope yeah, I hope you all
consider that as part of yournew 2025 strategy.
Speaker 1 (33:43):
Fantastic.
Well, was there anything thatwe didn't cover that you were
like?
I really want to share this.
Speaker 2 (33:48):
Oh man, no, we could nerd out forever.
I mean I can get in the weedsor zoom out, but yeah, feel free
to have me back or people reachout and be happy to chat and
answer your questions.
Speaker 1 (33:57):
Fantastic.
Well, I always end our showswith a final question.
It's simple.
If you want to take a second tothink about it, that's fine as
well.
But if you were in front of aroom of small business owners,
what is one piece of advice youcould give that is applicable to
no matter what kind of businessthey own, how long they've been
in business so it could be aquote, a book, you know some
(34:18):
insight, what's something thatyou would share with them.
Speaker 2 (34:21):
Sure.
Well, it's similar to somethingI shared earlier, but maybe
just kind of wrapping it up fortoday.
You know, no matter whatbusiness you're in, and no
matter if you're, you know, inthe room of everyone else is
looking like their business isjust like yours.
You're all real estate peopleor you're all finance services.
Whatever it may be, no one hasyour story.
No one else can tell your samestory about how you got to where
(34:44):
you are and what you're doing.
Everyone loves to connect withpeople through their stories and
being able to share that, Ithink, is one of the biggest,
you know, most powerful thingsthat you can do.
And don't fall prey to thinkingthat you're just like every
other you know place.
You're not like every otherplace.
(35:05):
You've got your own mission,your own story, and hopefully
you'll keep that in mind if anyof that imposter syndrome does
creep in All right.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Well, you've been a blessing to many.
I appreciate your time and Iimposter syndrome does creep in
All right.
Well, you've been a blessing tomany.
I appreciate your time, and Iknow our audience does as well
and wish you a prosperous 2025.
Thank you so much for having memy pleasure.
Thank you for listening tosmall business pivots.
This podcast is created andproduced by my company boss.
Our business is growing.
Yours Boss offers flexiblebusiness loans with business
(35:37):
coaching support.
Apply in minutes and getapproved and funded in as little
as 24 to 48 hours atbusinessownershipsimplifiedcom.
If you're enjoying this podcast, don't forget to hit the
subscribe button and share it aswell.
If you need help growing yourbusiness, email me at michael at
michaeldmorrisoncom.
(35:58):
We'll see you next time onSmall Business Pivots.
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