Virtual Event Success

While staying in Tucson, the housekeeper wrote messages to me on the notepad that was beside the bed. She thanked me for being an awesome guest (click on the image above to read the notes in closer detail).

Her name was Angela and I never met her face-to-face, but she left an impression on me. And it looks like I left an impression on her.

When I travel, I keep the hotel room as I would my own home. The only thing I don’t do is make up my bed, but I don’t do that at home either. Other than that, I put my clothes away, I wipe down the counter in the bathroom and I wash down any hair left behind by me in the shower.

I know that the women (and sometimes men) who work in hotels are hard-working, law abiding and sometimes God-fearing individuals. They are someone’s sister, mother, aunt, daughter or cousin and I treat them as I’d want others to treat people in my own family.

This is the same attitude I bring to my virtual events…

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A year ago, I launched a program and no one registered. I know product launches like the back of my hand, so I was flabbergasted when no sales poured in.

Then, I got desperate. I launched program after program. Still no one signed up. 2010 turned out to be one of the most miserable years since being in business. My confidence took a hit and I was doubting my own expertise. When my Fall 2010 workshop didn't fill, I knew something needed to change.

That's when Nancy Marmolejo launched one of the most innovative programs I've seen to date. She called it SpotlightU and invited me to take the assessment. I was filled with doubts, but given that I hit rock bottom in my business, I took the assessment.

What happened after that I describe in the video below. I share how Nancy's SpotlightU shifted one thing in my marketing which helped me to fill a program 30-days before the training started. And I attracted to the program exactly the type of person I really want to work with.

Click here to register for Nancy's no cost call. If you miss it, sign up anyways so you can get the recording.

When I was 30-years old, I had an awakening. I had gone through my 20s very angry about many things. When I finally reached the big 3-0, I was:

• Single after ending a 5-year relationship
• Back in church after not stepping foot in one for over 8-years
• Hopelessly bouncing between periods of wild wealth and abject poverty and wondering how I would break the cycle

It was the summer of my 30th birthday when I attended T. Harv Eker's 3-day intensive Millionaire Mind seminar. From 8:30am til about 6:30pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday on a hot, humid and muggy weekend, I crammed into the Metro Convention Centre in downtown Toronto with a couple thousand other people to develop our millionaire mindset.

And what a powerful experience.

I still have the notebook filled with all the notes I copied down from that 3-day event. We did tons of exercises on how to have a better relationship with our money. As I look at my notes, a couple things stood out that changed my destiny for good...

That if I don't respect my money, it won't stay where it's not wanted.

Why Social Media Is No Longer About Marketing

If you haven't figured it out, people don't need you in order to talk about your brand. They'll go to Twitter, Facebook and blogs, meet up with your fans (or foes) and carry on a conversation.

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Last week my friends Nancy Marmolejo and Natasha Allrich hosted a hugely successful call The 4 Hidden Secrets to Turn Your Social Networking Visibility Into a Steady Stream of Profitability... without EVER Having to Push, Pressure, Spam or Pitch.

Did you miss the call? No worries, because Nancy and Natasha just announced an EXCLUSIVE encore call this
Wednesday August 5 at 3pm Eastern Time (New York).

Nancy and Natasha are ready to reveal even more secrets to their "Soft Selling With Social Media" strategy that is putting money in the pockets of high achieving, soul driven entrepreneurs.

Here's what you'll learn on this encore call:

1. The 4 keys to turn your visibility into profitability using authentic strategies you'll love
2. Embarrassing mistakes even seasoned entrepreneurs make when trying to do business on Twitter, Facebook, etc. (they'll have a great 1st hand confession on this one!)
3. Missing pieces that can turn a 5 figure business into a thriving 6 figure business (how much are you losing by NOT knowing these?)
4. Exactly what you need to turn your followers into loyal, ready to buy fans!

Click here to reserve your spot in this complimentary teleclass.

P.S. As you probably know (and may have experienced yourself first- hand) the hard sell approach with
social media is a huge turn off. Click here to get started on the right foot.

I recently got an email from Kim Castle of BrandU and the subject was Can Misusing Online Video Ruin Your Brand?

Yes, it can. Here's how:

1. It can make you look cheap and unsuccessful. If you're teaching people how to create a six figure income, your video better look like it. There's a video of a guy who's teaching you how to make 5 figures in 21 days from Facebook. He's using videos in his marketing. Unfortunately, his videos smack of someone who's barely getting by on $21 an hour. He threw up a very cheap red colored fabric as his background while sitting in front of a desk. Plus, the audio is poor. John Reese's video makes him look like 7 figure success. This first video I did a few months ago here makes me look like a 3 figure success story. Ouch!
2. It can create a disconnect with your personality. Some people are naturally outgoing, but produce a video that hides what makes them unique. Someone pointing this out to me a couple of months ago. She said that on the phone, I showed up, yet on the videos, I was hiding. At the time, I chose to sit at my desk in front of the camera and talk. While that may work for some, such as my friends Nancy Marmolejo, Sherman Hu and Travis Greenlee (they look amazing on camera), it didn't for me. Being a talking head boxed me in a corner, like I was being benched in a basketball game. So, taking a page out of Lou Bortone's book, I let my personality show through and started to be myself.
3. It can create doubt in your target market's mind. There are many people who hate being in front of crowds. Using video is quite the same. Although you can't see the crowd, the crowd will be watching. You may sound confident over the phone on a teleclass, but fold to pieces as soon as a camera is shining in your face. Imagine what your target market may be thinking seeing you sweat and look uncomfortable when you're supposed to be their Empowerment Queen. Give yourself permission not to jump on the video bandwagon if you're not comfortable with it.

You can produce video that won't ruin your brand without spending thousands of dollars. I recently provided some shoestring budget ways to spruce up your videos here and here.

Producing video for online distribution doesn't have to be hard, but it shouldn't ruin your personal brand either.

What other tips can you provide so that others don't ruin their personal brand when using online videos?