Archives for July 2023

Purpose Greater Than Your Challenges with Special Guest Jon Gordon

Welcome back to the Back Stage Blog, where, every week, we take you through the four points that will lead you to your dream stage, in front of your dream audience.

How to build an incredible talk. 

How to build your business through products and services

How to put yourself on Other People’s Stages (OPS)

How to start building your own stages 

We will continue to dive into these four things every week so we can help you become the best communicator out there. The truth is, if you’re not a powerful communicator, you’re not getting people’s attention. In our efforts to bring you the best, we wanted to share with you some powerful insights from an absolute expert in communication, Jon Gordon. Jon’s principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and nonprofits. Incredibly, he is the author of 27 books including multiple best-sellers! I think we have a few things to learn from this guy! Best of all, he’s a dear friend of mine and my undefeated pickleball partner! John recently sat down with our audience to share his story of being at his absolute bottom to living the life he once thought impossible.

Jon Gordon’s Story

During the .com crash of the early 2000’s, John lost his job and came to a point where he was completely miserable. He found himself blaming others for his misery and was crushed by the reality that he was disappointing his family and wasn’t living up to the dreams and goals he had for himself. His life was unraveling and he realized that if something didn’t change, he would lose his marriage. At this pivotal moment, Jon looked himself in the mirror and asked, “Why am I here? What am I born to do? Why am I so miserable? Who do you want to be?” 

He realized he was miserable because somewhere on the journey, he had become completely focused on himself. He wasn’t doing anything to help others. 

John’s personal hardships allowed him to develop a message that he knew would help others. He decided to share his message through writing and speaking. He didn’t know how or where he would do it, but he just knew he had to. Fast forward, Jon developed a concept called Get Addicted to Positive Energy and simply started speaking and sharing his message all around his community with as many people as he could find. None of this earned money – it was all free. But he was getting in his reps. He was getting experience. Accomplished businessman and speaker, Ed Foreman, told Jon, “Speak. The more you do it, the more people see you. If you’re good, they’ll refer you, and then you’ll start getting more engagements.” Jon took his advice, and that’s exactly what happened.

He started getting referrals for more speaking engagements, and went from charging $500 for an event to $2k for an event – all without social media! This was simply the growth from his grassroots hard work and effort. When he started this journey, he didn’t know what the future held, but he did know one thing – his mission and his vision:

Inspire and encourage as many people as possible, one person at a time. 

In 2002, Jon started sharing his message through an e-newsletter with just 5 subscribers. Today, that newsletter reaches nearly one million subscribers! Jon says this was the best thing he ever did for growth because the newsletter allowed him to share the raw, real material that came from the essence of what he stood for. This is one powerful way he remained connected to his audience.

HERE ARE SOME VALUABLE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM JON’S SUCCESS:

He got clear about the problem he wanted to solve by first overcoming it himself. 

John’s story shows us that you are your first customer. The platform for his entire message started with the problem in his own home. As he overcame his own personal challenges, it ignited the passion and the mission to pursue positivity and optimistic energy. Once he knew he had something powerful to share with others, he knew he had an obligation to do it!

He started on Other People’s Stages (OPS) before he stepped onto his own. 

Jon didn’t start off with bang, and most of us don’t either. But he did take action. Don’t let the whole road ahead overwhelm you. It’s easier than you may think. Take your message and start sharing it with those in your local community. Jon shared that his first audience was his own wife and daughter. What a great place to start! This is where you have lots of space to develop your message and work on your craft. You will get better and better and you will grow in the confidence you need to take your message to larger stages.

He used the resources of his newsletter and email list to broaden the reach of his influence. 

Even with the rise and reach of social media, Jon reminded us of the power of your email list. This is still a great way to craft your message and distribute it on a regular basis. Remember, Jon’s email newsletter reaches nearly a million subscribers now. Subscribers are people who are asking for your influence, so don’t miss the opportunity to use it!

His purpose and mission were greater than his challenges. 

What helped Jon overcome the fear of speaking? He knew he had a message for others and he believed he had an obligation to share it. He knew that he had gone through a personal transformation and was sure that he could inspire and encourage others through his message. No matter the hardships he had to overcome on the path to success, he stayed anchored to his commitment to help and serve others. When you help others win, you will automatically overcome the obstacles of fear (fear of speaking, fear of stages, etc.) because loving and serving others gives you power.

Thanks for joining us today as we all gleaned from the expertise of my dear friend, Jon Gordn. I’ll see you all next week!

Pete Vargas

(If you’d like to hear more from Jon Gordon or get your hands on his latest power-packed book, The One Truth, follow this link >>>>https://www.getonetruth.com/)

THE ONE TRUTH BUNDLE!

Packed with FREE extras, client converting tools, Signature Talk exclusives, and expert coach support and MORE — at an incredible value!

Yes! I want my bonuses!

Welcome back to the Back Stage Blog where, every week, we take you through the four points that will lead you to your dream stage in front of your dream audience. The best way to get the spotlight on your message or your business is through the power of a stage. Now, I’m not just talking about in-person conferences or presentations in front of a room full of people. You can step on a stage when you have an audience with one person at a coffee shop or in a boardroom with ten people. You step on a stage every time you use your social media platform to talk about your business.

How to build an incredible talk.. 

How to build your business through products and services.

How to put yourself on Other People’s Stages (OPS).

How to start building your own stages.  

This blog is a stage! You can have your own physical stage, and you can have your own digital stage. There are numerous stages that the digital world has to offer you! And you don’t have to wait for an invitation!

Today, we are going to talk about one of the most powerful stages you can use to grow your business and share your message: the platform of digital WEBINARS.

Webinars have become a powerful tool for businesses to reach and engage their audience, and the potential they offer for customer acquisition is enormous. In this post, we’ll break down the ABCs of crushing a sales webinar. From attracting attendees to delivering a successful presentation and even converting it into an evergreen asset, we’ll cover it all. Listen folks, I know a guy who took his brick-and-mortar business onto the platform of a webinar, and he immediately saw more growth than he had seen for the entire decade prior! Hang on to the end because I’m going to go deeper and share some things I’ve never taught before… Not just the ABCs but the D and E as well!

A – Attendees

Before you dive into creating a webinar, remember this: attendees are the lifeblood of your presentation. Without a receptive audience, your efforts will be in vain. Don’t worry if you can’t draw hundreds of participants like the big players; even reaching 50 or 100 interested individuals can be a game-changer for your business.

To attract attendees, consider these strategies: 

1.  Organic Promotion: Post about your upcoming webinar on your social media channels and website. Engage your audience by sharing captivating content that highlights the value they’ll receive from attending.
2. Direct Messaging and Group Participation: Reach out personally to potential attendees through direct messages and promote your webinar within relevant groups where your target audience hangs out.
3. Leveraging Your Email List: If you have an email list, send out invitations to your subscribers. Your email list is a valuable asset that can drive substantial attendance.
4. Strategic Partners and Affiliates: Collaborate with partners and affiliates who can promote your webinar to their audiences. Offer them an incentive, such as a percentage of sales, to encourage their participation.
5. Paid Advertising: Consider running paid ads to reach a specific target audience that might be interested in your webinar topic.

B – Build a Captivating Webinar Presentation

Now that you have your attendees lined up, it’s time to move to the second step: building a webinar. The goal is to craft a compelling presentation that keeps your audience  engaged from start to finish. To do this, you’ll need a captivating title and a sexy signature talk, which are the two main elements of your webinar. Your title should grab the attention of your audience and make them curious to learn more.

Your Signature Talk is your carefully crafted talk  that delivers valuable content and persuades your audience to take action.

(To create a great signature talk, you can use the Story Braid Framework, which is a method of crafting a compelling talk using stories, facts, and action steps. To learn more about the Story Braid Framework, read our previous episode with Pat Quinn, who is an expert on creating signature talks.)

C – Call to Action

One of the most important aspects of a successful webinar is the call to action. This is the part where you invite your audience to take the next step, whether it is to buy your product or service or to book a phone call with you. 

The call to action should happen towards the end of your webinar after you have delivered valuable content and built trust with your audience. However, the call to action also depends on the price point of your offer. 

If you are selling something that costs between $200 and $3,000, you can ask your audience to buy directly from your webinar. 

If you are selling something that costs more than $3,000, you should ask your audience to book a phone call with you instead. This way, you can have a more personalized conversation and overcome any objections they might have.

D – Deliver and Duplicate 

The final step of creating a successful webinar is to deliver and duplicate it. This means that you need to pick a date and commit to doing your webinar, even if you don’t have everything ready yet. The first webinar is always the hardest, but you will learn and improve with each one. The more you do it, the more confident and comfortable you will become. 

The purpose of your webinar is to convert your audience into buyers or phone calls, depending on how much your product or service costs. 

You should aim for a conversion rate of 10% for sales and 15-20% for scheduling calls, which are the industry standards. 

One of our clients has achieved a remarkable success rate of 75% with phone calls, which means that three out of four people who book a call with them end up buying their $20,000 program. 

So don’t be afraid to deliver and duplicate your webinar until you get the results you want.

Okay, now for some added bonus material. You now know the ABCs for starting your own webinar. But I want to share with you two more points – the D and E.

D – Deliver Again

Once you’ve mastered the live webinar, it’s time to level up by turning it into an evergreen asset that you can deliver again and again. Evergreen webinars are prerecorded and can be watched on demand, allowing you to scale your reach and impact. However, before going evergreen, ensure you’ve nailed the fundamentals of evergreen webinars.

Just like the live version, make sure your evergreen webinar maintains the same level of engagement and impact.

E – Evergreen Conversion

To succeed with evergreen webinars, focus on driving continuous traffic to the recorded presentation. Aim for a steady stream of new viewers, ideally reaching a point where people are signing up every few minutes.

Why Webinars are Grant’s Favorite Acquisition Channel

People ask us all the time which platform Grant prefers to use to share his message and products. By far, Grant’s favorite platform is webinars. Why? Because webinars are by far the most powerful customer acquisition channel for businesses across various industries. Webinars offer:

1. High Conversion Rates: With proper execution, webinars can achieve impressive conversion rates, driving sales or generating leads for your business.
2. Scalability: Evergreen webinars allow you to reach a global audience, scaling your impact without increasing your live presentation time.
3. Engagement and Connection: Webinars provide a platform for building genuine connections with your audience. Participants get to hear your voice, see your passion, and feel a personal connection to your brand.
4. Educational Value: Webinars offer valuable insights, education, and training to your audience- providing quality content strengthens your credibility and authority in your field.
5. Cost-Effectiveness: Compared to hosting physical events, webinars are a cost-effective way to engage with a large audience.

Webinars are not just another tool; they’re a powerful vehicle to drive your business forward. They can be a game-changer for your business when executed correctly. By mastering the fundamentals of webinars, you can significantly boost your customer acquisition efforts and grow your brand’s influence. 

Remember to focus on creating engaging content, attracting attendees, and continuously refining your approach.

We created a cheat sheet for additional insights and tips on mastering webinars, and you can grab it here – https://10xstages.com/webinar.

Ready to leave a lasting impression on your audience and make a significant impact in your industry? Go ahead, pick a date, and launch your first webinar! 

Your Message Matters!

Pete Vargas

Thanks for joining us again today on the journey to becoming a world-class communicator. I really can’t wait to share with you some masterful content from my dear friend and communication expert, Pat Quinn. As a professional consultant and speaker, he has keynoted some of the biggest conferences out there and has spoken with audiences all around the world. He has consulted with professional speakers, pastors, and business leaders to help them improve their presenting skills and more effectively deliver their message. He has personally helped thousands, if not tens of thousands of our customers and he truly knows what it means to be a world-class communicator. This guy is the best of the best. Take it away, Pat!

How to be a World-Class Communicator: Pat Quinn 

Like many of you, I had a message inside of me that I knew could change the world. I knew it could create revenue for me and my family, but more importantly, I knew it could improve the lives of others.The problem was, I didn’t know how to communicate in a way that inspired people to take action and change.

Communication isn’t about entertainment or getting people to cry. It’s about getting people to take action – convert. What percentage of people who listen to you actually take the next steps you recommend for them? Conversion is what creates revenue and changes lives.

Your signature talk is the one way that you explain to other people what you do and how you do it. You may have 5 minutes or 45 minutes. You may be speaking to one person or thousands of people. You may be on a stage or across from someone at Starbucks. No matter what your situation may be, your signature talk will be the greatest marketing tool that your business has. It’s vitally important that you know how to present your signature talk. When trying to convert others, people will often start with the stuff that they know that other people don’t know, or their offer, or emotional story. Do NOT do this. These are all false starts!. I’m going to share with you a framework that will help you order your talk in a way that invites people in to see the real value of your message.

The Storybraid Framework. 

The Storybraid Framework is composed of four parts: heart, head, hands and heart. THE ORDER MATTERS! Let’s dive deeper into each section…

Heart: Share Your Heart 

You want to open your talk with a heart story in order to connect with your audience. You want to share a personal story, but you want to make sure it’s one you have in common with your audience. Look at the stories of your life and ask yourself which one would get the maximum number of people to say that same thing happened to them. 

For example, should I use the story of when I spoke in Memphis, TN in the Pyramid to 12,000 people? OR should I share the story of when I spoke in a ballroom to 6 people, 3 of which didn’t return after lunch (which made me feel I wasn’t as good as I thought I was)? The second one! Why? Because every single one of you has had a day where there’s a voice in your head that says, “You’re not quite as good as you think you are.” And maybe, “You don’t deserve to be on this stage. Your story isn’t enough.” When people can relate to your story, they will be better prepared to receive the message you have to share.

Head: Share Your Content 

1- Don’t Overwhelm Your Audience 

Most people get here and teach way too much which tends to leave their audience scared, overwhelmed, and confused. When people are overwhelmed with content, they freeze and don’t move forward with you. They become unable to make decisions. When you teach less you actually help more, and you allow people to feel empowered, not overwhelmed.

How do you know if you have too much content?

• You’re rushed and out of breath.
• You apologize in your presentation and say something like, “I’m sorry, this is a lot of information.”
• You have more than 40 slides.

2- Bring Value to Your Audience

If in the time that you had in front of them you didn’t help them, then why would they work with you? When you give someone your best stuff, they’ll pay you to do it again.

3- Small Changes For Big Outcomes

When you’re teaching people something that will change their lives, frame it as a small change. Don’t frame it as a big change. Why? Because most people don’t like change. Start with what won’t change.The smaller the change, the more people who will adopt it, even if the outcome of that change is radical. I also suggest you use your first name in this section of sharing your content. This may seem strange to you, but I have found that one of the biggest barriers to your audience comfortably contacting you after your presentation, is them not knowing how to address you. This may keep them from moving forward and working with you.

Hands: Share Your Call to Action or Tactical Offer 

This is the part of your talk where you tell the audience specifically what you want them to do next, but you don’t want to end the presentation here.

Some action steps for your audience might be to:

• Sign up for your free newsletter
• Join your Facebook group
• Schedule a free call, appointment, or assessment
• Download a free resource
• Buy your course, coaching, product, or service
• Sign a contract

You must have at least ONE call to action. When you offer your audience no options, they will freeze and not make any decision.

Heart: Make an Emotional Close

About 80% of speakers end their presentation with their call to action, which is a mistake because over 50% of your audience are not tactical decision makers – they’re emotional decision makers. Always follow your tactical call to action with an emotional call to action.

If you wanna take your story and turn it into a revenue generating tool, go to storybraid.com and get the free resources that’ll help you turn your story into a signature talk using the four-part story braid framework: heart, head, hand, and heart.

Welcome back to the Back Stage Blog, where, every week, we take you through the four points that will lead you to your dream stage, in front of your dream audience.

How to build an incredible talk. 

How to build your business through products and services

How to put yourself on Other People’s Stages (OPS)

How to start building your own stages 

We will continue to dive into these four things every week so we can help you become the best communicator out there. The truth is, if you’re not a powerful communicator, you’re not getting people’s attention. In our efforts to bring you the best, we wanted to share with you some powerful insights from an absolute expert in communication, Jon Gordon. Jon’s principles have been put to the test by numerous Fortune 500 companies, professional and college sports teams, school districts, hospitals, and nonprofits. Incredibly, he is the author of 27 books including multiple best-sellers! I think we have a few things to learn from this guy! Best of all, he’s a dear friend of mine and my undefeated pickleball partner! John recently sat down with our audience to share his story of being at his absolute bottom to living the life he once thought impossible.

Jon Gordon’s Story

During the .com crash of the early 2000’s, John lost his job and came to a point where he was completely miserable. He found himself blaming others for his misery and was crushed by the reality that he was disappointing his family and wasn’t living up to the dreams and goals he had for himself. His life was unraveling and he realized that if something didn’t change, he would lose his marriage. At this pivotal moment, Jon looked himself in the mirror and asked, “Why am I here? What am I born to do? Why am I so miserable? Who do you want to be?” 

He realized he was miserable because somewhere on the journey, he had become completely focused on himself. He wasn’t doing anything to help others. 

John’s personal hardships allowed him to develop a message that he knew would help others. He decided to share his message through writing and speaking. He didn’t know how or where he would do it, but he just knew he had to. Fast forward, Jon developed a concept called Get Addicted to Positive Energy and simply started speaking and sharing his message all around his community with as many people as he could find. None of this earned money – it was all free. But he was getting in his reps. He was getting experience. Accomplished businessman and speaker, Ed Foreman, told Jon, “Speak. The more you do it, the more people see you. If you’re good, they’ll refer you, and then you’ll start getting more engagements.” Jon took his advice, and that’s exactly what happened.

He started getting referrals for more speaking engagements, and went from charging $500 for an event to $2k for an event – all without social media! This was simply the growth from his grassroots hard work and effort. When he started this journey, he didn’t know what the future held, but he did know one thing – his mission and his vision:

Inspire and encourage as many people as possible, one person at a time. 

In 2002, Jon started sharing his message through an e-newsletter with just 5 subscribers. Today, that newsletter reaches nearly one million subscribers! Jon says this was the best thing he ever did for growth because the newsletter allowed him to share the raw, real material that came from the essence of what he stood for. This is one powerful way he remained connected to his audience.

HERE ARE SOME VALUABLE LESSONS WE CAN LEARN FROM JON’S SUCCESS:

He got clear about the problem he wanted to solve by first overcoming it himself. 

John’s story shows us that you are your first customer. The platform for his entire message started with the problem in his own home. As he overcame his own personal challenges, it ignited the passion and the mission to pursue positivity and optimistic energy. Once he knew he had something powerful to share with others, he knew he had an obligation to do it!

He started on Other People’s Stages (OPS) before he stepped onto his own. 

Jon didn’t start off with bang, and most of us don’t either. But he did take action. Don’t let the whole road ahead overwhelm you. It’s easier than you may think. Take your message and start sharing it with those in your local community. Jon shared that his first audience was his own wife and daughter. What a great place to start! This is where you have lots of space to develop your message and work on your craft. You will get better and better and you will grow in the confidence you need to take your message to larger stages.

He used the resources of his newsletter and email list to broaden the reach of his influence. 

Even with the rise and reach of social media, Jon reminded us of the power of your email list. This is still a great way to craft your message and distribute it on a regular basis. Remember, Jon’s email newsletter reaches nearly a million subscribers now. Subscribers are people who are asking for your influence, so don’t miss the opportunity to use it!

His purpose and mission were greater than his challenges. 

What helped Jon overcome the fear of speaking? He knew he had a message for others and he believed he had an obligation to share it. He knew that he had gone through a personal transformation and was sure that he could inspire and encourage others through his message. No matter the hardships he had to overcome on the path to success, he stayed anchored to his commitment to help and serve others. When you help others win, you will automatically overcome the obstacles of fear (fear of speaking, fear of stages, etc.) because loving and serving others gives you power.

Thanks for joining us today as we all gleaned from the expertise of my dear friend, Jon Gordn. I’ll see you all next week!

Pete Vargas

(If you’d like to hear more from Jon Gordon or get your hands on his latest power-packed book, The One Truth, follow this link >>>>https://www.getonetruth.com/)

THE ONE TRUTH BUNDLE!

Packed with FREE extras, client converting tools, Signature Talk exclusives, and expert coach support and MORE — at an incredible value!

Yes! I want my bonuses!