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Last year, I decided against going to B&P because I didn’t feel like I had anything to offer. This year I bought my ticket, and still wasn’t 100% sure I was going to attend for the same reasons. I’m not writing this for the people who have been to B&P because they know more than I do. I am writing this for the people that either didn’t get the opportunity or decided against going for whatever reason. I’m NOT trying to sell anybody on the idea or make anyone feel bad for not going because I honestly don’t care if you go. It's not that I don't want to meet you, it's that I know that no matter what happens, the room will be full of like-minded people and I will meet new friends and learn something from every person in the room. If you were on the fence or decided that you didn’t want to go, here is my insight coming from a person that felt inferior to those I knew were going.
I feel confident enough about a few subjects to present on them. Here is the list of subjects and my thought process when deciding what to present. I could talk about marketing for real estate leads, but there were people there with millions of dollars of equity and one of them even wrote a friggin’ book on it! I could talk about playing poker, but there is a guy who would not only make me go broke, he owns a poker training website. I could talk about computer programming, but there were a few people that knew way more about it than I did. I could talk about importing products from China, but I learned everything I know from a couple people that were there. I could talk about baseball because I know I know more than anybody about that, but how in the world would that translate to business? So…I decided not to present, and I now regret that I did.
Biophase brought one of his employees that has never owned a business and she still made a presentation. She talked about her education, past jobs and travel history. I learned something from her that I must have heard hundreds of times in the past, but it’s feeling the story and seeing the concrete results that puts everything in context. Even though I thought talking about baseball wouldn’t be a good idea, I learned two things that paralleled that concept. One, I learned that last year everyone learned a valuable lesson on how to take a crap. And I also learned how not to suck at pickup basketball. Yep. You know the coolest thing about that? I learned something from both (after reading the blog of the 2012 dump presentation).
The veterans were incredibly receptive to the newcomers, asking great questions and offering great advice unlike any other event I’ve been a part of. I thought that there might be a handful of people that avoided or were short with some others, and I was wrong. In fact, the top speed producers below were just as easy going and fun to talk to as anyone else. Not once was someone belittled, called out, viciously corrected or embarrassed. A couple of the best presentations were given by two people that were nervous about speaking, and one of them was speaking for the first time ever.
If you are uncomfortable about giving a presentation because you aren’t the best in the world, here is my advice. Anybody can have a theory on something, anybody. Some theories are right and some are stupid ridiculous. If you’re worried about this, then don’t present on theory. DO whatever it is you want to present on. If you want to do a presentation on AdWords, then spend three months making every mistake (once) you can on AdWords. After a while, you’ll know what not to do and some things will work. Now, you can be confident about presenting AdWords because you KNOW what works, not just THINK you know what works. Even if you offer the most basic presentation, I would bet a large majority of the room would learn something from you. It might only be that they never want to do what you presented on, but that is of value to them. And who knows, someone might take what you’ve taught everyone, create something valuable and forever be grateful. I know I am.
Thanks to everyone that I met. I look forward to seeing everyone in 2014.
I feel confident enough about a few subjects to present on them. Here is the list of subjects and my thought process when deciding what to present. I could talk about marketing for real estate leads, but there were people there with millions of dollars of equity and one of them even wrote a friggin’ book on it! I could talk about playing poker, but there is a guy who would not only make me go broke, he owns a poker training website. I could talk about computer programming, but there were a few people that knew way more about it than I did. I could talk about importing products from China, but I learned everything I know from a couple people that were there. I could talk about baseball because I know I know more than anybody about that, but how in the world would that translate to business? So…I decided not to present, and I now regret that I did.
Biophase brought one of his employees that has never owned a business and she still made a presentation. She talked about her education, past jobs and travel history. I learned something from her that I must have heard hundreds of times in the past, but it’s feeling the story and seeing the concrete results that puts everything in context. Even though I thought talking about baseball wouldn’t be a good idea, I learned two things that paralleled that concept. One, I learned that last year everyone learned a valuable lesson on how to take a crap. And I also learned how not to suck at pickup basketball. Yep. You know the coolest thing about that? I learned something from both (after reading the blog of the 2012 dump presentation).
The veterans were incredibly receptive to the newcomers, asking great questions and offering great advice unlike any other event I’ve been a part of. I thought that there might be a handful of people that avoided or were short with some others, and I was wrong. In fact, the top speed producers below were just as easy going and fun to talk to as anyone else. Not once was someone belittled, called out, viciously corrected or embarrassed. A couple of the best presentations were given by two people that were nervous about speaking, and one of them was speaking for the first time ever.
If you are uncomfortable about giving a presentation because you aren’t the best in the world, here is my advice. Anybody can have a theory on something, anybody. Some theories are right and some are stupid ridiculous. If you’re worried about this, then don’t present on theory. DO whatever it is you want to present on. If you want to do a presentation on AdWords, then spend three months making every mistake (once) you can on AdWords. After a while, you’ll know what not to do and some things will work. Now, you can be confident about presenting AdWords because you KNOW what works, not just THINK you know what works. Even if you offer the most basic presentation, I would bet a large majority of the room would learn something from you. It might only be that they never want to do what you presented on, but that is of value to them. And who knows, someone might take what you’ve taught everyone, create something valuable and forever be grateful. I know I am.
Thanks to everyone that I met. I look forward to seeing everyone in 2014.
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