Category: Podcast

This is a follow-up episode with Chris Ducker, the UK’s leading personal brand entrepreneur. He’s created the UK’s biggest and best personal branding conference.

Chris is a serial entrepreneur and the author of the book Virtual Freedom and more recently, the book The Rise of the Youpreneur. He’s based in England and owns and operates several businesses with over 400 full-time employees internationally. Chris is a business mentor, a keynote speaker, podcaster, blogger, as well as founder of Youpreneur.com and the annual Youpreneur Summit, which is held in London, UK each November.

This is part two of a two-part series with Chris. If you haven’t heard part one, you can listen here.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. How Chris had to pivot when his biggest excitement–the Youpreneur Summit–could not be held as originally planned.
2. Why the event was almost canceled and then went virtual.
3. What happened when sales for the virtual conference didn’t justify continuing on.
4. How the Youpreneur Summit being canceled, allowed Chris time to focus.
5. How adaptability and business acumen contributed to making a painful–but correct–decisions.
6. What piece of advice Chris would offer to help people think about the future.

Connect with Lauren V. Davis here:

Instagram.com/Ldaviscreative

https://www.facebook.com/groups/understandsocialmedia

Connect with Chris Ducker

https://youpreneur.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/chrisducker

Check out this episode!

This is PART ONE! This episode was recorded in the spring with Chris Ducker, the UK’s leading personal brand entrepreneur. He’s created the UK’s biggest and best personal branding conference.

Chris is a serial entrepreneur and the author of the book Virtual Freedom and more recently, the book The Rise of the Youpreneur. He’s based in England and owns and operates several businesses with over 400 full-time employees internationally. Chris is a business mentor, a keynote speaker, podcaster, blogger, as well as founder of Youpreneur.com and the annual Youpreneur Summit, which is held in London, UK each November.

If not for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Youpreneur Summit would be happening right now, this week! It is the UK’s most successful conference and welcomes around 350 people each year who are leaders in their industries.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

1. How the Youpreneur Summit evolved.
2. Who the attendees are.
3. The ins and outs of how Chris put his conference together.
4. How the marketing and monetization of the conference happens.
5. Why Chris set up mastermind elements and cabaret-style seating for his event.
6. How he creates monetization opportunities within a pitch-free event.
7. Why adding a personal touch (P-to-P–people-to-people) has helped bring attendees to Youpreneur.
8. How Chris creates opportunities for social media during the conference.
9. Chris’ advice for organizing a smooth event.
10. What preparing for the event looks like on a personal level as well a professional level.
11. Why he believes face-to-face interaction is so important.

Connect with Lauren V. Davis here:

Instagram.com/Ldaviscreative

Connect with Chris Ducker

https://youpreneur.com/

https://www.youtube.com/user/chrisducker

Check out this episode!

What a year this has been!

Welcome to the very first episode of my rebranded podcast. This podcast used to be called The Business Event Playbook Podcast and now it is changing to the Real Personal Branding Podcast. Don’t worry, the older episodes won’t go away, but I can’t wait to tell you more about my new direction.

I started the year with my new podcast about the LIVE business event space and the thought-leaders behind the events—  and I found as I was talking to these inspiring entrepreneurs, what thrilled me was the different *platforms* they used to build their profitable personal brands.

What do I mean by platforms? Some use events. Some use podcasts. Some use YouTube. Some use their blogs. Some use the stage. Some use their book launches. I love it all and the amount of episodes with incredible guests I have yet to release ABOUT the business event space is kind of mind-blowing… This theme is not going away but rather being improved as we dig much deeper into personal branding.

You will learn more about me through the context of this show but I am a marketing strategist for leaders, coaches, and entrepreneurs, I also own a brick and mortar record store with my husband in Rockford IL. It’s a unique story which is why it is my vision to not only tell the other unique stories of fellow entrepreneurs but to pull out tactical starting points for you and begin cultivating your own personal brand to become a leader in your community, whether that be an online community or local community.

The Real Personal Branding podcast with Lauren V Davis is your VIP access to thought-leaders, speakers, authors, coaches and the secrets behind how they built their personal brand businesses.

I believe the unescapable magic power you have in your business starts with your relationships first, and then your communication through marketing as the foundation of your personal brand.

I want you to build a profitable personal brand that shows up optimally for your people. Your personal brand and the platform you use to build it, is an essential tool to your personal development and success of your business.

For entrepreneurs who want to build their audience and leadership, there is no better way than through building and marketing your relationship-driven personal brand.

Find me here: https://www.instagram.com/ldaviscreative

Check out this episode!

Marissa Nehlsen joins Lauren on the podcast for a chat about living life rich in every way. Marissa is all about making money work for you–one of Lauren’s most popular podcast topics.

Lauren asks Marissa to tell the story of her journey into entrepreneurship.

Lauren and Marissa talk about empowering women who empower others. She wants to speak strategy into them as well as give them practical steps to get to the next level.

Marissa tells Lauren about the workshops she offers and that she believes in great value. She teaches strategies like not losing money on line 28 of your tax return. One thing you should ask yourself as well is, “Are you working on the business, or are you working in the business?”

With workshops, Marissa says that people will follow up and follow through when they pay you for what they’re getting. The first question she asks in a workshop room is, “What am I here to learn? What are they here to learn? What will be the most impactful things?”

Prior to setting up a workshop or building a workshop, Marissa advises you to ask the question, “What problem am I uniquely qualified to solve for these participants?”

Lauren explains to Marissa that she runs into a lot of people who don’t know what they are uniquely qualified to solve. Marissa tells Lauren that you turn passion into profit. What sets your soul on fire?

Lauren and Marissa chat about knowing your value and charging what you’re worth.

Lauren wants to know what Marissa does for herself before an event.

For her last question, Lauren asks if Marissa thinks live events are more meaningful than virtual events and why. Marissa loves live events and believes you can do them virtually, but you have to be more strategic with the setting and experience.

Connect with Lauren V. Davis here:

Instagram.com/Ldaviscreative

Bitly.com/beppodcast

Connect with Marissa Nehlsen

“Live Life Rich”

marisanehlsen.com

Check out this episode!

Lauren welcomes Sigrun Gudjonsdottir, who created The Selfmade Summit conference for 7-figure female entrepreneurs. Sigrun is also the leading business mentor for female online entrepreneurs, a TEDx speaker, and the host of “The Sigrun Show” podcast.

Sigrun’s event, The Selfmade Summit, is planned for 2021. She tells the story of how this event came to be and what The Selfmade Summit is all about. Sigrun began with hosting weekend retreats, which eventually grew into larger events.

Sigrun explains to Lauren that if you want to have an impact beyond your bubble, a proper conference is a way to do that. The smaller events built the foundation to host larger events.

Lauren and Sigrun talk about Gary Vaynerchuk and how Sigrun invited him to speak at her conference. Sigrun had no event planned but booked her first speaker.

Lauren and Sigrun discuss how Iceland became Sigrun’s event location, and Lauren asks her to describe the conference and who the speakers are. They chat about the venue for the event, and Sigrun says when she chose the dates, she came up with, “Put the date on your dream. The rest is logistics.”

Sigrun struggled to come up with a concept for the conference. In hindsight, it was clear what it needed to be. She created criteria that all the speakers had to have made $1 million in their business per year.

Everything was planned for The Selfmade Summit in June 2020, and then COVID-19 happened. Lauren asks Sigrun to tell her about how she changed gears. She didn’t believe a virtual event was enough, so Sigrun moved the event to 2021 instead. She also asked her speakers to do virtual events as well.

Lauren and Sigrun ponder what the world may look like a year from now. Lauren wants to know if virtual events will ever replace live, in-person events. Sigrun gives her take on this.

Connect with Lauren V. Davis here:

Instagram.com/Ldaviscreative

Bitly.com/beppodcast

Connect with Sigrun Gudjonsdottir

“The Sigrun Show”

Sigrun.com

Resource mentioned in the episode:

The Selfmade Summit

Check out this episode!

Lauren welcomes guest and monetizing queen, Jenny Levine Finke, founder of the Denver Bloggers Club.

Jenny has planned more than 50 events in the last three years, including her flagship blogger and influencer conference called the Fuel Your Influence (FYI) Conference. Jenny has also created a huge, engaged Instagram community in addition to her blog, “Good For You Gluten-Free,” which has more than 100,000 unique visitors every month. She knows the power of monetizing your community the right way.

Diagnosed in her mid-30s with celiac disease, Jenny returned to school and started her blog, “Good For You Gluten-Free.” Eventually, she formed the Denver Bloggers Club.

The Fuel Your Influence Conference began so that brands and bloggers and influencers could all interact together. She planned events around topics she wanted to learn more about.

It started in 2018 and became known for its epic goodie bags. Lauren and Jenny discuss the origins of the goodie bags and talk about monetizing models for this year’s conference.

Lauren and Jenny talk about how Jenny uses social media strategically. specifically, building traffic SEO strategy, and the Pinterest powerhouse. They also discuss how social media positions you as a thought leader and a resource to the community you serve.

Jenny discusses collaboration with Lauren and how difficult it can be to get other entrepreneurs to share their information, leading her to create this conference.

Lauren shares a piece of advice a friend gave her about her business and competition. Her friend said, “There is enough business to go around. If you stop worrying about it, you’ll never worry about it again.”

Jenny and Lauren speak about the COVID-19 pandemic and how virtual events are replacing in-person events. Jenny says it’s challenging and explains why in-person events will bounce back.

One of the lessons of COVID-19, Jenny says, is learning how to diversify your business and the ways that you get people to support your business. The pandemic has taught her how to diversify her content, income, and the way she is delivering her services and content.

Connect with LVD here:
IG: @ldaviscreative
Bitly.com/beppodcast

Connect with Jenny Here
@goodforyouglutenfree

The FYI Conference is going virtual this year: fyiconference.com 

Check out this episode!

“Wildfires. Tons of them… all over Sonoma County… I think we are going to have to cancel (the conference – Talent Development Think Tank).” Andy said in November… with far less panic than I would have.

In the next couple of weeks, I watched him and Bennett calmly cancel and postpone their high-end talent development and HR conference they had been planning all year, that had been highlighted as one of the top entrepreneurship events to attend in 2019 in Entrepreneur Mag and Forbes, and that I was literally already packing for!

People always say “I can’t start a conference because I don’t know if I can do it. What if no one shows up? What if it is bad?”

Jeff says he started this conference BECAUSE he wanted to see IF he could do it. And he DID IT, successfully, for five solid years. 

Do you know when it is time to shut your event down? To close up shop? How smart is it to plan your finale from the moment you start?

In this episode, Best Selling Author Jeff Goins gives us all the secrets on…

• How he recruited all-star lineups of speakers through the five years –– and why they always said yes.

• How he curated a very vibrant community from the conference that lives on.

• And finally, how he planned the finale of his conference and “ended it before it had to end.”

You’ll learn later why Jeff’s community would travel from states away to meet each other… and I think that is truly a testament to how Jeff is as a person with everyone he meets. 

So if you dont already know Jeff, here is a little more about him.

Jeff Goins is a writer, speaker, and entrepreneur. He is the best-selling author of five books, including The Art of Work and Real Artists Don’t Starve. His award-winning blog Goinswriter.com is visited by millions of people every year.

Through his online courses, events, and coaching programs, he helps thousands of writers succeed every year. Jeff lives with his family just outside of Nashville, where he makes the world’s best guacamole.

Jeff’s community for writers: https://goins.tribewriters.com/sales-page

Follow Jeff on Twitter:
@JeffGoins

Instagram: @JeffGoins

And please don’t hesitate to connect with me!

Instagram: @LDavisCreative

Email: www.bitly.com/beppodcast

Check out this episode!

Emily Leach, believes that those working for themselves deserve the same respect, access to benefits and opportunities for growth as those working for corporations.

That’s why 6 years ago, she felt CALLED to create #FREECON The Freelance Conference in Austin Texas… but here is the thing… she only had 100 days to put the first one together!

The result was thrilling and Emily knew she had to do it again! So she made it a business.

In this episode, Emily shares:

• How she prioritizes both making the event profitable while going deep on relationships and experiences
• How she masterminded with other successful conference organizers
• What her most important lesson-learned was in the last 6 years, (many conferences don’t last more than 5)
• And delivers more than a few resources to help you with the experience of YOUR next event.

Pick up tickets to Emily’s virtual conference and stay up to date with when the next #FreeCon live event will take place: https://freelanceconference.com/

Connect with me! 

Email: https://www.bitly.com/beppodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ldaviscreative

Connect with Emily: 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FREECONUSA/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freeconusa/

Check out this episode!

Andrew and Pete are the fun business duo who help small business owners scale their business so they can stop swapping time for money.

They regularly keynote international conferences such as Social Media Marketing World and have been featured on sites such as Inc., Huffington Post, Social Media Examiner, Convince and Convert, & Entrepreneur on Fire.

Andrew and Pete are ranked in the top 100 digital marketers in the world and host one of Europe’s largest small-biz growth conferences, ATOMICON

Due to current events, Andrew and Pete had to VERY quickly and intentionally pivot their 1000 attendee event into a virtual event, but they decided they had to MAKE IT BIG.

They had to ask themselves, “What if we had planned it like this from the beginning?” They changed everything. They made it larger than life, and they spill ALL the secrets. 

Learn exactly how they pivoted to create an epic experiential live event into an unrivaled virtual event in this episode… plus all of their secrets on how they were able to future-proof the success of this event and events to come from Andrew and Pete.

P.S. Bloopers at the end!  🙂 

Receive $50 off your ticket to Atomicon happening THIS MONTH here: https://atomicon2020.eventbrite.co.uk?discount=friend

Connect with me! 

Email: https://www.bitly.com/beppodcast

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ldaviscreative

Connect with Andrew and Pete!

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewandpete