Everything You Need to Know About Building a Powerful Network

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We've just had a fantastic interview with Paul Lancaster.
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This guy is so well connected.
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He has interviewed and booked Sarah Davies, Stephen Bartlett, Daniel Priestley.
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In this episode, he's going to tell us how to do the same.
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Let's get into it.
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So for those of you who don't know Paul, he's founded this incredible event series, which I think is annual.
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There'll be more coming, I know.
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The Startup and Scale Up Week.
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But the kind of people that he's had speaking, Sarah Davies, Steve Bartlett, Daniel Priestley, who I've mentioned on the show before.
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I'm kind of obsessed with him.
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Tim Campbell, The Apprentice.
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Now, I don't actually watch The Apprentice.
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Do you watch The Apprentice?
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I don't watch it as often as I used to, but I still do enjoy it when I watch it.
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Same with Dragon's Den.
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I used to watch both of them all.
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And I know that was a big inspiration for you, wasn't it?
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Watching Dragon's Den, which Stephen Barlet's on now.
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Yeah.
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So, yeah, so Stephen, I booked him before he was mega famous.
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Hang on, he's on first name basis.
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Sorry, not Stephen Barlet, sorry.
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So I booked him before he was mega famous.
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So I've been talking to him for a few years.
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I used to have a job where I was in Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield Hall, Sunderland, Newcastle pretty much every week.
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It's like a government organization called Tech North.
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So I came across Stephen then when he was running Social Chain.
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Right.
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I could see he was like on the rise and he was like a
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a bit of a star, particularly in the Manchester area.
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Yeah.
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But not many people in the North East knew who he was.
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Right.
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And I'd already done two of the Newcastle Starter Week festivals, which were attracting people from all over the UK.
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And the third one, I wanted to make it more of a UK-wide...
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thing but still very much the northeast.
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Yeah.
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So if I couldn't get northeast speakers, my next preference was northern speakers.
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So he was from Manchester.
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So I thought, OK, predominantly northeast with some northern, bring him over.
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And he was amazing.
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And, you know, we had just over 800 people there to hear him speak.
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And he probably gained 800 new followers that day.
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Because he was so good.
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Because he was so good.
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He was so good.
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What was so good about him back then?
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What did you see?
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Well, he was obviously running a very successful company, a lot of buzz around him and the business he was running.
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But when he came, it was like a ripple of excitement.
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I've not sort of seen much of that.
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I've seen it at gigs and music festivals and stuff.
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But anyway, he came in, he was at the back of the room, there was like a bit of a buzz around it.
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And when he came on, I think he did about 50 minutes talk.
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And I think...
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35 to 40 minutes of that was his story, his background, the hero's journey, rags to riches sort of thing, how he turned his life around.
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So very inspirational and motivational.
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And then the final 10 minutes or so were real quick fire tips and advice on this is where marketing is now.
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This is the future of marketing.
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This is what all the social media channels want you to do.
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So it was... And when he came off stage, there was literally just like everyone...
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It was like a throng.
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People just gathered around him.
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Like he was a rock star.
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Like he was a rock star.
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People were rushing up to him to talk to him and get his autograph and stuff like that.
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And...
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So they knew who he was.
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He must have pulled some of them in.
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Well, some, but I don't...
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I think some people were just so excited by his presence and his charisma.
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But like...
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Bless them, straight after him, Andrew and Pete from Atomicon.
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Yes.
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Amazing.
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Yeah.
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They'd asked to go on last after Stephen Bartlett, which was like, with hindsight, a mistake.
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A mistake.
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Because the energy in the room was all about Stephen Bartlett.
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So we had to ask him and people to go outside because it was just distracting, everything going on.
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And so...
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I can't remember, but there was, he stood outside for about two hours.
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People just like queuing up to talk to him and he just stuck around and I thought he was just going to leave straight away, but he didn't.
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He stayed and supported everyone.
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And then afterwards he was saying that was such an amazing event.
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Like he, like, I know they're good events, but like he was really excited about what had just happened there.
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Yeah.
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And then posting on social media and how great it was and.
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Like I was going to say, I've kept in touch with him a little bit, but I haven't.
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Obviously, he's then gone on to be mega successful with his books and his podcasts and Dragon's Den.
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Do you think you could get him back?
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I wouldn't get him for the same price though.
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So I'll tell you, some people know this, right?
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So most of the speakers, when I do the events, have done it for free because it's promoting their business.
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They've got products or services to sell.
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Yeah.
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So generally, I'll only...
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pay for a speaker if that's their job, like if they're a professional speaker or someone that I really, really want to speak at the event.
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So I did actually pay him.
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And for me, that was quite a lot of money.
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I paid five grand for him to speak, which at the time was like, I don't know if I'm going to get five grand's worth of ticket sales back.
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And I don't think I actually got five grand's worth of ticket sales back by booking him.
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So that's the risk of booking a famous speaker.
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They don't necessarily sell tickets for you, but in terms of the content and the quality of the event and the kudos and credibility since.
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So, you know, I've obviously got photos, I've got videos, I've got testimonials, I've got all that, which even now people are like, Oh, wow.
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You had Stephen Bartlett speaking at your event before he was famous.
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So it's,
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Yeah, it's, but it was interesting.
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I've got a few stories like that.
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So, but that was a good lesson.
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You wouldn't get him for less than a hundred grand now.
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You know, it's like, but anyway, but five grand, I was like, okay, great speaker.
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I know that he's going to be amazing.
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I think what happened was when I first started talking to him, it was him I was talking to.
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But as his career was taken off, he started having assistants managing his social media channels.
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Yeah.
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And I worked out that if I was messaging him like really late at night, it was him.
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But if I was messaging him during the day, it was his assistants.
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And they were like the gatekeepers.
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So anyway, as he got busier and busier, I wasn't talking to him.
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He started staying up till midnight to message him.
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Yeah, but even so, it was like when I was with him, yeah.
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Like, it was great.
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So I was like, okay.
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Anyway, the lesson there is it gets a lockdown in your contract, but you're going to get them to do certain things.
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Compare that to another guy who's not as well known, but I think is an amazing speaker.
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There's a guy called Brad Burton, who's like... Oh, I know him.
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Yeah, I've seen him.
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Yeah.
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So he...
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I've known him for a long, long time.
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I've done lots of work with him over the years.
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Really trust Brad to always deliver.
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He's an amazing motivational business speaker.
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Really good.
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High energy.
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Whenever I've done a big event,
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in the Newcastle events, the three events, I've always started with him.
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He's like come out of the traps.
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Set the tone, yeah.
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Loads of energy, hyping everyone up.
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Amazing speaker.
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Everything he says is like really well rehearsed.
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So it's almost like a stand up comedian where every word and every line just hits.
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Yeah.
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Almost like a punch line.
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So it's like.
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amazing speaker he is or was that was his main job professional speaker so i paid him yeah because i knew we would deliver right now the other thing with him is he always markets and promotes every event yeah so you're not just getting him on the day it's from the moment you book him he's hyping it up he's promoting it so that there's a lot of value in those types of speakers arguably more so than than a bigger name the big headlines yeah yeah
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So definitely you want people that will get behind it and help support.
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The more you can get, the better.
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Last year, Sarah Davies.
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Yeah.
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So love Sarah Davies.
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Thought she'd be an amazing speaker.
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Didn't know her.
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Knew a few people who seemed to know her.
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Asked them if they were doing it.
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They were like, oh, yeah, we know Sarah Davies.
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We'll get her to speak to you.
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I was like, right, okay.
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Yeah.
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I kept asking them, the introduction never came.
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So I was like, right, okay.
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I'm going to go the official route.
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So I went to her speaker, agent.
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Yeah.
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London-based.
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Yeah, great event.
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We'd love to have Sarah Davies.
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Speak at this event.
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It's £20,000.
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Sarah Davies is like, oh, right, I can't afford £20,000.
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Yeah.
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It's like, I could probably afford five.
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Yeah.
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Right?
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That's like the benchmark.
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So it was like, Stephen Bartlett spoke.
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Yeah.
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Love Sarah Davis this week.
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It's literally a 15-minute drive from where she lives.
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It's all about the Northeast, which I know she's passionate about.
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It's a really good fit for the brand.
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So she's really good at marketing and sales.
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And I was like, can you at least put the offer to her?
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See what she says.
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Good for you.
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I love this.
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So they did.
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And they came back and said,
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But one time only, never done before.
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Sorry, David's is happy to do it for five grand.
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So it's like, amazing.
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Okay.
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It's like, can you please set up a meeting so I can have a chat with an explainer?
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So I know there are other people that should do stuff for charities for free.
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Yeah.
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Some like close friends of her, she'll do things for free.
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Yeah.
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But for a business event, that's her going rate, right?
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Yeah.
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Anyway, I had a video call with her and we just hit it off.
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Yeah, she's really cool, isn't she?
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We got in so well.
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When I told her what the event was about, she just said, I absolutely love you and what you're all about and we're going to make this the best event ever.
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I'm all behind it and I'm going to really get behind the event and push it at every opportunity.
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Interestingly, she said, I don't know how to use LinkedIn.
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I don't know how to use social media.
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So can you show me how to like,
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So you've trained sour babies.
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So I was like, right.
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So on the call, I was like, look, I've just announced you as a speaker.
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Can you like...
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Click on that button.
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Yeah.
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Can you repost it?
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So she did it on the call.
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Yeah.
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So she was like, right, great.
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I'll get my assistants to like, do it from now on.
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Yeah.
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So that's a little insight.
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It's like, sometimes it really isn't them doing their social media, but if you can get in front of them and you can explain to them, they buy into it.
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And on the day, she was amazing.
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And backstage, she was amazing.
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On stage, she was amazing.
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And I think having the opportunity to talk to her and explain what the event was all about made her
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enjoy it more made her really like understand and get behind it so gave even a better version of herself at that event through that Daniel Priestley mentioned before I love Daniel Priestley he's so clever and passionate about business oh yeah so Daniel's interesting so I've been connected to him for a long time but I've never met him yeah so we've we've followed each other on social media for a long time we've exchanged some messages but um
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I'll give her a shout out.
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This is thanks to Sophie Millican.
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She did a recommendation to him.
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She said, look, I think you should take a call or have a chat with Paul.
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Sophie Millican's very well connected, isn't she?
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Because I had a long list of speakers and he was on them, but I didn't know how to get to him anyway.
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So I had a chat with him.
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his assistant as well.
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And he just came up for the day.
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He got the train up in the morning to Sunderland to the event last year and left the same day.
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So he just came for the event.
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So he came up for about two, three hours.
241
00:11:49.124 --> 00:11:57.849
He sent up about 500 books in advance so that everybody could have a free book on their seat on arrival.
242
00:11:58.892 --> 00:12:00.412
For him, he didn't take a fee.
243
00:12:01.132 --> 00:12:02.913
So for him, it was an opportunity.
244
00:12:02.993 --> 00:12:03.553
It's marketing.
245
00:12:03.713 --> 00:12:04.573
It's an opportunity to.
246
00:12:04.593 --> 00:12:06.574
Oh, he's a marketeer, isn't he?
247
00:12:06.594 --> 00:12:12.135
To promote his books, to get more podcasts, more subscribers, followers on social media.
248
00:12:12.555 --> 00:12:15.556
He's got a really good coaching program.
249
00:12:15.576 --> 00:12:20.297
So I know for a fact there's a bunch of people who came to the event who've since done that course with him.
250
00:12:20.337 --> 00:12:21.857
So it was worth.
251
00:12:22.017 --> 00:12:23.759
He's made more than a speaker fee.
252
00:12:23.960 --> 00:12:28.806
I don't want to do anything unless there's a point to it, unless it actually makes a difference.
253
00:12:28.986 --> 00:12:30.889
I don't want to do things just for the sake of it.
254
00:12:31.429 --> 00:12:34.613
But I really believe that there was a need for something like this.
255
00:12:35.735 --> 00:12:38.058
However, the first event...
256
00:12:38.458 --> 00:12:44.526
I basically decided I was going to do it, picked the date, started pulling everything together.
257
00:12:45.267 --> 00:12:46.909
And I was getting job offers.
258
00:12:46.949 --> 00:12:48.271
I was getting offers of work.
259
00:12:48.311 --> 00:12:49.813
And I just turned everything down.
260
00:12:49.833 --> 00:12:51.515
I was just like, this is such a big thing.
261
00:12:51.615 --> 00:12:52.316
I need to just...
262
00:12:53.334 --> 00:12:59.357
focus 100% on this thing to make it successful, which was the right thing to do.
263
00:12:59.577 --> 00:13:02.158
However, I didn't think what came next.
264
00:13:02.518 --> 00:13:03.979
I hadn't even thought about it.
265
00:13:04.079 --> 00:13:13.424
I just thought, right, I'm just gonna put everything in this event, I'll make it work, I'll make enough money to pay for everything, pay for anyone that's involved, and then I'll figure it out.
266
00:13:14.592 --> 00:13:21.936
So it was a success, but then I remember there was like a week or so after people were like patting us on the back saying that was amazing, whatever.
267
00:13:21.956 --> 00:13:24.077
I was like, literally, I've got no money in the bank.
268
00:13:24.137 --> 00:13:29.881
I've got, like, I can't even afford to buy a sandwich until my next invoice comes in.
269
00:13:30.181 --> 00:13:37.665
So I'm like walking around thinking, well, I've made a mistake, not made a mistake, but I hadn't planned, like, what next?
270
00:13:38.085 --> 00:13:38.805
What is that?
271
00:13:38.866 --> 00:13:39.486
What is that?
272
00:13:39.506 --> 00:13:41.607
Because I think you're describing entrepreneurship.
273
00:13:41.627 --> 00:13:42.207
What is that?
274
00:13:42.267 --> 00:13:45.609
Or like the early days of entrepreneurship, the naivety of it.
275
00:13:45.689 --> 00:13:52.613
I've had that where the hope and the vision is so strong and the reality of it is always slower than you imagine.
276
00:13:53.014 --> 00:13:54.334
I think you do need that.
277
00:13:54.414 --> 00:13:55.135
I think that like...
278
00:13:55.795 --> 00:14:18.471
sort of um I don't know what's the word that that just you're just total focused to make blind hope but then that's where maybe a team around you is good if you've got other people alongside you who can plan what's next yeah because I didn't really have that I had people that I brought in at the like I did pretty much everything until the final bit where I had brought
279
00:14:20.472 --> 00:14:20.752
Right.
280
00:14:20.992 --> 00:14:21.573
During the week.
281
00:14:22.073 --> 00:14:24.314
But it was pretty much me doing everything, right?
282
00:14:24.354 --> 00:14:25.334
Which is crazy.
283
00:14:25.415 --> 00:14:28.556
Like an 800-person event with massive superstars.
284
00:14:28.636 --> 00:14:30.357
Well, the first one was 600.
285
00:14:30.377 --> 00:14:31.017
600, yeah.
286
00:14:31.277 --> 00:14:34.819
But then as soon as that was over, I was like, we need to do another event.
287
00:14:34.979 --> 00:14:35.239
Yeah.
288
00:14:35.419 --> 00:14:37.921
So we did another event six months later.
289
00:14:38.121 --> 00:14:38.381
Yeah.
290
00:14:38.401 --> 00:14:41.883
Which is a one-day event called Newcastle Scale-Up Summit.
291
00:14:42.123 --> 00:14:42.383
Yeah.
292
00:14:42.683 --> 00:14:46.085
And I made more profit on that one day event than I did on the five day event.
293
00:14:46.546 --> 00:14:48.787
And it was less stressful, but it was like, okay, right.
294
00:14:49.127 --> 00:14:50.508
We've got momentum now.
295
00:14:50.968 --> 00:14:56.712
And then use that as a jump off point for the next Newcastle Startup Week event the following year.
296
00:14:57.513 --> 00:14:59.614
And we made a bit more profit from that.
297
00:14:59.694 --> 00:15:08.680
And then in amongst that, we're doing consultancy and coaching and doing a bit of work with the councils and different individuals and businesses.
298
00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:11.882
So it was more of a sustainable business after that.
299
00:15:11.922 --> 00:15:12.302
But yeah.
300
00:15:12.582 --> 00:15:15.003
That first event, it was like, it's all on this event.
301
00:15:15.084 --> 00:15:16.084
Yeah, all in.
302
00:15:16.264 --> 00:15:17.565
All in.
303
00:15:17.865 --> 00:15:19.426
How did you make money afterwards?
304
00:15:19.486 --> 00:15:22.128
So what was the first, like, what was that invoice that landed?
305
00:15:22.168 --> 00:15:24.309
How did you then kind of survive after the events?
306
00:15:24.953 --> 00:15:30.414
I think I had a little bit of some ticket sales hadn't landed in because it was all through then.
307
00:15:30.454 --> 00:15:31.915
Oh my God, the five-day delay.
308
00:15:31.935 --> 00:15:36.096
Yeah, there's always a bit of a delay to your final payout.
309
00:15:36.776 --> 00:15:42.857
But then I had some people who wanted a bit of consultancy on the back of it.
310
00:15:42.977 --> 00:15:45.698
Who'd kind of seen you do your thing and thought, I'm going to speak to you.
311
00:15:45.718 --> 00:15:46.758
So I think that's the thing.
312
00:15:47.758 --> 00:15:49.019
Events are great.
313
00:15:49.059 --> 00:15:53.160
I love events for so many different reasons, but events are really hard.
314
00:15:55.280 --> 00:16:24.507
think they're easier to do than they are like if you if you're just doing it because you think it's easy or it's going to create lots of opportunities that's not necessarily the right reason to do it like i had that belief in that passion and the and the bigger purpose for doing it that kept me motivated and kept me going in the run-up to it when things are hard and and after yeah otherwise i wouldn't have done more but um if people think they're just going to do an event they're going to have a big hit and everything's going to be amazing i mean you might but it's yeah
315
00:16:25.864 --> 00:16:27.624
It's it's unlikely for most people.
316
00:16:27.724 --> 00:16:28.725
I think it's the same with podcasts.
317
00:16:28.745 --> 00:16:34.426
I think it's a great idea to set up your own show, but it is such an effort and the delay on the value from it.
318
00:16:35.306 --> 00:16:43.969
I think it takes months and years when if you're just trying to reach new people, you could just go on 10 other people's podcasts where they've got the established format, the established audience.
319
00:16:44.369 --> 00:16:49.450
And I guess it's the same with events, whether you we talk about it here as like a massive event.
320
00:16:49.850 --> 00:17:04.272
lorry in the yard and we're trying to push this lorry and get it moving and when it's moving it's still heavy and you've still got to keep it going but the push to get something going it's huge isn't it and you've got to really believe in what you're doing to see it through.
321
00:17:04.572 --> 00:17:05.312
Exactly, yeah.
322
00:17:05.412 --> 00:17:08.474
I think, you know, so I've got my own podcast.
323
00:17:08.554 --> 00:17:10.075
It's the Super Connector Show.
324
00:17:10.155 --> 00:17:11.055
I'll give you a plug now.
325
00:17:11.195 --> 00:17:17.219
Yeah, tell us all about the Super Connector Show and how you do it, because I think people will be interested to hear your approach.
326
00:17:17.359 --> 00:17:19.180
We've got a different way to how you've got.
327
00:17:19.280 --> 00:17:20.961
Yeah, why am I doing the podcast?
328
00:17:21.021 --> 00:17:21.861
Why am I doing events?
329
00:17:21.941 --> 00:17:23.502
Why am I doing anything?
330
00:17:23.562 --> 00:17:24.142
What's the point?
331
00:17:24.162 --> 00:17:25.203
Because of that, right?
332
00:17:25.223 --> 00:17:30.045
So I spend a lot of time thinking about who I am, what I do, why I do it, right?
333
00:17:30.225 --> 00:17:33.107
And it doesn't actually matter what the medium or the channel is.
334
00:17:34.687 --> 00:17:39.770
What I want to do is help make it easier for people to get the information that they need on it.
335
00:17:40.271 --> 00:17:44.813
Make it easier for people to bring their ideas to life and fulfill their potential.
336
00:17:45.294 --> 00:17:53.179
So one way I've done that over the years is very early on in my career, I realized I do enjoy helping people.
337
00:17:53.199 --> 00:18:01.043
My first job after university was working with Sage, a software company, doing technical support, like help desk, problem solving.
338
00:18:01.264 --> 00:18:02.304
Oh, God.
339
00:18:02.484 --> 00:18:03.485
Glunt for punishment.
340
00:18:03.645 --> 00:18:08.050
Yeah, I mean, not easy, but like great training, great company.
341
00:18:08.250 --> 00:18:10.613
And people would ring up usually when they're at the end of the tether.
342
00:18:11.654 --> 00:18:15.758
And it's good that you can fix the problem and take the pain away.
343
00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.320
I do enjoy doing that, right?
344
00:18:19.022 --> 00:18:20.504
So I like supporting people.
345
00:18:20.884 --> 00:18:23.167
And then I've built up a good network online and offline.
346
00:18:23.187 --> 00:18:23.487
Yeah.
347
00:18:23.767 --> 00:18:24.187
So what?
348
00:18:24.607 --> 00:18:25.108
So what?
349
00:18:25.228 --> 00:18:25.468
Right.
350
00:18:25.888 --> 00:18:28.509
Well, how do I leverage that network to help other people?
351
00:18:28.989 --> 00:18:36.892
So that's why I call myself a super connector, because I spend most days signposting and matchmaking and doing introductions to people.
352
00:18:37.112 --> 00:18:37.272
Yeah.
353
00:18:37.612 --> 00:18:41.733
And there's a really good book, which is a big inspiration, called The Tipping Points by Malcolm Gladwell.
354
00:18:41.753 --> 00:18:43.034
Oh, Malcolm Gladwell, yeah.
355
00:18:43.074 --> 00:18:43.774
Yeah, which...
356
00:18:43.854 --> 00:18:44.434
Brilliant book.
357
00:18:44.454 --> 00:18:51.617
I remember reading that and saying that, you know, the world's full of great ideas, but why are some ideas successful and others aren't?
358
00:18:51.637 --> 00:18:51.777
Yeah.
359
00:18:52.217 --> 00:18:58.081
And it's a simplified argument, but he's saying that the ones that succeed usually have what's known as a maven.
360
00:18:58.441 --> 00:19:00.763
So people who just love finding out about things.
361
00:19:01.604 --> 00:19:02.825
You have a connector.
362
00:19:03.485 --> 00:19:06.427
So the connector doesn't just tell one or two people.
363
00:19:06.447 --> 00:19:09.849
They'll think, who do I know that would benefit from knowing about this?
364
00:19:09.889 --> 00:19:15.473
And they'll actively go out of their way to tell people about that idea or that business or that person.
365
00:19:15.513 --> 00:19:17.275
And they'll join the dots and bring them together.
366
00:19:17.295 --> 00:19:17.675
Yeah.
367
00:19:18.015 --> 00:19:24.217
And then you have a salesman or salesperson or marketing person who keeps pushing that idea.
368
00:19:24.958 --> 00:19:27.099
And when I read that, I was like, well, I'm definitely a maven.
369
00:19:27.499 --> 00:19:28.699
And I think I'm a connector.
370
00:19:29.319 --> 00:19:32.501
And I'm not a salesman, but I'm a pretty good marketing person.
371
00:19:32.581 --> 00:19:37.743
So I'm going to set out to be the best person that does all three things.
372
00:19:38.506 --> 00:19:39.287
Not everyone does that.
373
00:19:39.447 --> 00:19:41.188
And it's like, it's quite intangible.
374
00:19:41.368 --> 00:19:47.031
But I, you know, I create opportunities for people to come together in ways that they wouldn't normally come together.
375
00:19:47.311 --> 00:19:47.512
Yeah.
376
00:19:47.532 --> 00:19:53.655
So, sometimes the speakers, it's like, you see them now collaborating and they wouldn't have met otherwise.
377
00:19:53.675 --> 00:19:54.075
Yeah.
378
00:19:54.176 --> 00:19:54.476
And that's,
379
00:19:56.019 --> 00:19:59.464
You don't know that's definitely going to happen, but in my head, I'm like, I think this is going to happen.
380
00:19:59.604 --> 00:20:11.261
Or I'm always creating opportunities for people at events, in person, online, trying to share knowledge and insights with people through podcasts.
381
00:20:12.677 --> 00:20:17.400
meetings, interviews, videos, blogs, in any way I can.
382
00:20:18.581 --> 00:20:22.343
Laura of Reciprocity says that what you give out must come back to you.
383
00:20:22.583 --> 00:20:24.205
You are helping so many people.
384
00:20:24.245 --> 00:20:26.266
You're making these introductions that are very valuable.
385
00:20:26.646 --> 00:20:27.767
How does it come back to you?
386
00:20:29.628 --> 00:20:30.088
It does.
387
00:20:30.388 --> 00:20:30.969
I mean, it has.
388
00:20:30.989 --> 00:20:35.992
I think the trick is to not expect it to come back.
389
00:20:36.012 --> 00:20:38.534
So not to do it because you want something in return.
390
00:20:38.594 --> 00:20:38.794
Yeah.
391
00:20:40.741 --> 00:20:44.887
I mean, sometimes it doesn't come back and you think, buddy, I'll have help.
392
00:20:44.928 --> 00:20:47.732
All these people are like, I just want a bit of help in return.
393
00:20:47.752 --> 00:20:50.096
They didn't even tag me in the LinkedIn post.
394
00:20:50.256 --> 00:20:54.502
Or like sometimes people talk about something that's happened
395
00:20:55.780 --> 00:21:02.444
And I'm like, well, I know I introduced you to that person, but they've forgotten that I've introduced them and they're like, oh yeah, I've met this with them.
396
00:21:02.484 --> 00:21:02.804
Is it?
397
00:21:02.904 --> 00:21:04.565
And it's like, oh yeah, okay.
398
00:21:04.585 --> 00:21:23.175
So, yeah, I think it's just, I just believe that, like you say, that if you put things out there and you try to be the best person you can be or the best version of yourself, then it will come back and you will benefit.
399
00:21:25.513 --> 00:21:28.594
Tell us a story about how you ended up co-authoring.
400
00:21:28.934 --> 00:21:31.515
You guys know the books, the For Dummy series, which are huge.
401
00:21:31.535 --> 00:21:32.835
Everyone knows the For Dummy series.
402
00:21:33.495 --> 00:21:36.076
You co-authored Small Business Marketing for Dummies.
403
00:21:36.096 --> 00:21:36.716
I did, yes.
404
00:21:36.816 --> 00:21:38.597
Tell us the story of how that came about.
405
00:21:38.637 --> 00:21:41.377
Way back in 2013, you can still buy it on Amazon.
406
00:21:44.110 --> 00:21:45.111
It is a good book.
407
00:21:45.171 --> 00:21:52.395
I would encourage people, particularly if you're new to marketing or even if you're experiencing marketing, it's a good reference guide.
408
00:21:52.696 --> 00:21:57.939
So if you've not read the Four Dummies book, they've got a certain format.
409
00:21:58.299 --> 00:21:59.700
So it is like a reference.
410
00:21:59.720 --> 00:22:01.221
Paul, I might have read this book.
411
00:22:01.481 --> 00:22:03.382
I might have read this book in my early days.
412
00:22:03.402 --> 00:22:04.223
Wouldn't that be funny?
413
00:22:04.243 --> 00:22:06.744
I feel like it's one of those books where... You need it on your shelf over there.
414
00:22:06.945 --> 00:22:08.045
You've got lots of great books over there.
415
00:22:08.085 --> 00:22:08.886
We should bring it in, yeah.
416
00:22:09.246 --> 00:22:11.748
Well, so it's way back in 2013.
417
00:22:11.928 --> 00:22:12.388
Yeah.
418
00:22:12.768 --> 00:22:16.271
So basically, they're for dummies.
419
00:22:16.291 --> 00:22:20.894
So like you say, you've got podcasting for dummies, marketing for dummies, accountancy for dummies, you know.
420
00:22:20.994 --> 00:22:23.736
I've definitely read that one.
421
00:22:24.076 --> 00:22:27.758
But it's good because it's just, it's easy to understand for anyone to get into it.
422
00:22:27.798 --> 00:22:29.299
They write to you like you're an idiot.
423
00:22:29.399 --> 00:22:32.642
Well, it's just an easy way into something.
424
00:22:33.742 --> 00:22:47.548
And I can't remember if it was the 20th anniversary or the 25th anniversary of the For Dummies series, but they were doing a road show across the UK and they got in touch with the council and said, look, we're going to park up a bus at Grey's Monument.
425
00:22:47.768 --> 00:22:48.688
Yeah.
426
00:22:48.728 --> 00:22:50.049
The center of Newcastle.
427
00:22:50.069 --> 00:22:55.951
Have you got any like local business advisor, expert type people that could come along and do a talk?
428
00:22:56.011 --> 00:22:57.611
So they put my name forward.
429
00:22:57.772 --> 00:22:57.992
Yeah.
430
00:22:58.212 --> 00:23:01.473
And I spent the day one Saturday just doing like,
431
00:23:04.389 --> 00:23:06.991
sort of like mini workshops just to passers-by.
432
00:23:07.011 --> 00:23:07.452
On the bus?
433
00:23:08.413 --> 00:23:10.034
On the bus or like outside the bus.
434
00:23:10.074 --> 00:23:10.354
Right.
435
00:23:10.755 --> 00:23:15.419
Passers-by, anyone could just come and get like a little mini workshop on marketing.
436
00:23:16.079 --> 00:23:16.800
And that went well.
437
00:23:16.920 --> 00:23:26.048
And then off the back of it, they said, the For Dummies team said, we've got an American book that we'd like to make an English version.
438
00:23:26.068 --> 00:23:27.329
So it needs anglicizing.
439
00:23:27.869 --> 00:23:29.971
So Zs to Ss and all that sort of stuff.
440
00:23:30.051 --> 00:23:30.412
Yeah.
441
00:23:31.052 --> 00:23:34.153
Chat GPT would have done that now, put you to be out of a job.
442
00:23:34.453 --> 00:23:39.494
So it needs anglicising, it needs some new chapters, it needs updating.
443
00:23:39.754 --> 00:23:40.994
Would you be up for doing it?
444
00:23:41.014 --> 00:23:43.415
I said, of course, I'd love to do it.
445
00:23:44.095 --> 00:23:47.315
So yeah, I had a day job at the time as well.
446
00:23:47.615 --> 00:23:48.776
So I was working for Sage.
447
00:23:49.756 --> 00:23:55.577
My second time I went back to Sage in a marketing role for Sage.
448
00:23:56.217 --> 00:23:57.977
So this is in my spare time.
449
00:23:57.997 --> 00:24:00.398
I spent about six months pulling it all together.
450
00:24:01.298 --> 00:24:02.600
And I got paid a fee.
451
00:24:02.720 --> 00:24:06.944
I don't get royalties unless someone buys a book through a link.
452
00:24:07.184 --> 00:24:12.049
So go to the UK Startup and Scale a Week website and click on that link and I'm going to get a few pennies for it.
453
00:24:12.510 --> 00:24:15.092
But yeah, I got a fee.
454
00:24:15.112 --> 00:24:15.613
I can't remember.
455
00:24:15.633 --> 00:24:16.073
I was like...
456
00:24:17.034 --> 00:24:45.506
few grand or something like that which which is yeah yeah if you've got a job and you get that on top yeah really good well if you were to write a book about events and how to pull off an incredible event and how to connect i'd be straight to the bookshop to buy that why haven't you written that book i know is it too obvious for you or um do you know what it is i think it was only a year and a half ago when i finally admitted i was an event organizer oh really so what why like what what did you think you were before
457
00:24:47.349 --> 00:24:48.850
Just advocate for the Northeast.
458
00:24:48.910 --> 00:24:49.790
Yeah, super connected.
459
00:24:49.810 --> 00:24:51.331
Yeah, that's the thing.
460
00:24:51.371 --> 00:24:54.393
Because I didn't just do the events, I was doing other things as well.
461
00:24:54.893 --> 00:24:57.655
But I've done that many big events and that many good events.
462
00:24:57.755 --> 00:25:00.336
And it's over 100 events I've organized now.
463
00:25:00.616 --> 00:25:01.357
Yeah.
464
00:25:01.397 --> 00:25:02.457
So four big events.
465
00:25:03.918 --> 00:25:26.610
five-day multi-venue city-wide events and then the rest have been half-day events or one-day events plus all the videos and there's like 420 videos and 60 odd podcasts and however many blogs of thousands of blogs and whatever but yeah it was basically i had my business then kovar came along
466
00:25:28.331 --> 00:25:30.553
That is such a risk for an event business, isn't it?
467
00:25:30.593 --> 00:25:30.733
Yeah.
468
00:25:30.973 --> 00:25:32.615
I went back into employment.
469
00:25:32.835 --> 00:25:33.055
Yeah.
470
00:25:33.536 --> 00:25:42.644
Not something I wanted to do, but I did that for two years, which was exactly what I needed, a bit of stability and good money and took the pressure off.
471
00:25:42.984 --> 00:25:48.189
But I kept my business going in the background, knowing that I would go back to it at some point.
472
00:25:48.369 --> 00:25:48.569
Yeah.
473
00:25:48.669 --> 00:25:49.270
That was the plan.
474
00:25:49.290 --> 00:25:52.473
I'll do a year or two of working in tech recruitment.
475
00:25:54.274 --> 00:25:57.015
which I did do well out of that, but it's not me.
476
00:25:57.075 --> 00:25:57.836
It's not my passion.
477
00:25:57.936 --> 00:25:59.997
It's not what I really want to do.
478
00:26:00.537 --> 00:26:08.382
So I picked up where I left off in January 24 and hit the ground running and straightaway started doing a monthly event called Platform.
479
00:26:09.483 --> 00:26:13.745
And from the very first event, we've had between 50 and 80 people every event.
480
00:26:14.646 --> 00:26:16.547
I should know this.
481
00:26:16.687 --> 00:26:20.029
It's like 60, 70 of those that we've done now.
482
00:26:20.249 --> 00:26:21.631
People love these events though.
483
00:26:21.651 --> 00:26:23.794
Like they sign up religiously to go to these events.
484
00:26:23.834 --> 00:26:24.796
Is it every month you do them?
485
00:26:24.816 --> 00:26:25.417
It's every month.
486
00:26:25.437 --> 00:26:28.441
So we do Newcastle every month except August.
487
00:26:28.521 --> 00:26:30.665
That's the only month when I take a break.
488
00:26:31.012 --> 00:26:36.574
You have to be so committed though, because we started the Dare to Grow Live events in Newcastle and the first few are hard.
489
00:26:36.594 --> 00:26:37.694
It's like pushing that truck.
490
00:26:38.114 --> 00:26:40.915
But then all of a sudden, word of mouth, people leave, they book.
491
00:26:41.355 --> 00:26:43.876
And then it's easy to get the first 30, 40, 50.
492
00:26:44.416 --> 00:26:46.597
And we started getting so big, we had to move to new venues.
493
00:26:46.617 --> 00:26:48.417
And then we're like, oh, let's launch another city.
494
00:26:48.897 --> 00:26:49.397
Same again.
495
00:26:49.417 --> 00:26:50.398
You start again from zero.
496
00:26:51.578 --> 00:26:58.102
It's a hard thing as an entrepreneur because you can have success in one thing or success in one location and think, oh, that would just translate.
497
00:26:58.162 --> 00:27:00.444
And it doesn't because no one knows who you are.
498
00:27:00.884 --> 00:27:03.846
If somebody was listening and thinking, right, I'm listening.
499
00:27:04.466 --> 00:27:10.450
I can bring people together in a retreat or a full day event or I'm going to get speakers or I'm going to be a speaker.
500
00:27:11.471 --> 00:27:13.872
Today, what advice would you give people setting up events?
501
00:27:14.533 --> 00:27:15.353
Where would they begin?
502
00:27:15.413 --> 00:27:15.994
What would they do?
503
00:27:16.014 --> 00:27:16.694
What would you tell them?
504
00:27:17.255 --> 00:27:18.035
Don't do it.
505
00:27:18.055 --> 00:27:18.575
No, don't do it.
506
00:27:18.595 --> 00:27:19.816
No, no, no.
507
00:27:19.856 --> 00:27:20.797
Do it if you really...
508
00:27:22.265 --> 00:27:24.827
If it really matters and you're really willing.
509
00:27:24.847 --> 00:27:26.428
That's your first bit of advice, isn't it?
510
00:27:26.488 --> 00:27:28.809
Do it because you've got a purpose, not just to make money.
511
00:27:28.829 --> 00:27:33.272
If it matters to you or you think it's really important for other people.
512
00:27:33.612 --> 00:27:33.812
Yeah.
513
00:27:33.992 --> 00:27:39.996
I think if you're doing it just to make money or just because you think it's, I mean, okay, do it for fun.
514
00:27:40.056 --> 00:27:42.738
You know, hopefully you want to enjoy it as well.
515
00:27:43.258 --> 00:27:44.339
But it is hard.
516
00:27:45.219 --> 00:27:47.000
It's not easy doing anything.
517
00:27:47.301 --> 00:27:49.762
Doing anything worthwhile is hard.
518
00:27:50.323 --> 00:27:52.384
Just quickly, I will go back on what you're saying there.
519
00:27:52.744 --> 00:27:54.005
I think there's like snackable.
520
00:27:54.645 --> 00:27:56.506
So talk about fast food and snacks.
521
00:27:56.686 --> 00:27:57.287
Yeah.
522
00:27:57.467 --> 00:27:59.508
And so snackable content.
523
00:27:59.868 --> 00:28:00.109
Yeah.
524
00:28:00.589 --> 00:28:05.052
The internet, social media is full of snackable content, which is entertaining, but you don't feel...
525
00:28:05.852 --> 00:28:23.942
satiated is that the right word yes i completely agree yeah however if i listen to a really good podcast yeah or read read a book or go to an event or have a great conversation with someone i feel much more satisfied by that yeah uh and even going like the restaurants or whatever
526
00:28:24.802 --> 00:28:25.963
Sometimes it's just the food.
527
00:28:26.543 --> 00:28:27.524
Sometimes it's the company.
528
00:28:27.804 --> 00:28:36.049
Sometimes it's the overall vibe and ambiance and the experience of the light and the color and the decor.
529
00:28:36.649 --> 00:28:40.011
So I think there's different ways to look at all of these things.
530
00:28:41.535 --> 00:28:42.176
You're right about that.
531
00:28:42.196 --> 00:28:43.196
Can I tell you a little story about that?
532
00:28:43.597 --> 00:28:45.438
We went to Toulouse recently in France.
533
00:28:45.458 --> 00:28:49.781
We drove and my other half's really good at like finding things for us to do on Instagram.
534
00:28:50.341 --> 00:28:54.264
And we got told about this restaurant actually from the woman who we rented the villa off.
535
00:28:54.644 --> 00:28:57.246
And she said there's a restaurant in the center of Toulouse.
536
00:28:57.946 --> 00:29:01.469
called Entrecote, and they only serve one thing on the menu.
537
00:29:01.509 --> 00:29:01.750
Right.
538
00:29:02.110 --> 00:29:02.771
Take it or leave it.
539
00:29:02.911 --> 00:29:03.772
Take it or leave it.
540
00:29:03.812 --> 00:29:04.492
And you don't even...
541
00:29:04.512 --> 00:29:05.333
They don't bring you a menu.
542
00:29:05.353 --> 00:29:05.994
There's no menu.
543
00:29:06.374 --> 00:29:07.375
I shouldn't have even said menu.
544
00:29:07.435 --> 00:29:11.359
You turn up and within... Well, first of all, when you turn up, there's a queue out the door.
545
00:29:11.479 --> 00:29:11.679
Yeah.
546
00:29:12.120 --> 00:29:13.581
They serve one thing.
547
00:29:13.661 --> 00:29:15.222
The thing they serve is steak and chips.
548
00:29:15.703 --> 00:29:17.445
I used to be vegan, you know, for years and years.
549
00:29:17.845 --> 00:29:18.285
And then I...
550
00:29:19.046 --> 00:29:21.569
Went to France on holiday and I had a whipping.
551
00:29:21.589 --> 00:29:22.330
She wasn't eating anything.
552
00:29:22.450 --> 00:29:23.571
We got a rotisserie chicken.
553
00:29:24.072 --> 00:29:25.073
My God, the smell of it.
554
00:29:25.093 --> 00:29:26.755
I'm sorry to say that I fell.
555
00:29:27.476 --> 00:29:29.758
And on day three, I was like, give me some of that chicken.
556
00:29:30.299 --> 00:29:32.761
And so I don't eat like lamb or beef or anything like this.
557
00:29:32.802 --> 00:29:35.965
But we went to this restaurant and all they did was steak and chips.
558
00:29:36.025 --> 00:29:37.567
And I had the steak and the chips.
559
00:29:37.847 --> 00:29:39.069
My God, it was amazing.
560
00:29:39.609 --> 00:29:58.507
delicious it wasn't loads it was perfect the queue was out the door because of the buzz they'd created where they said if you don't get in you don't get in and they're only serving one thing and they had it nailed so you sat down and this salad arrived like a salad like a war duff salad maybe to kind of advertise or I don't know
561
00:29:59.188 --> 00:30:00.249
And then they whisked it away.
562
00:30:00.269 --> 00:30:06.311
And before you knew it, here came the steak and like the plate was really hot and it was unlimited fries that went with it.
563
00:30:06.351 --> 00:30:07.952
My God, it was absolutely delicious.
564
00:30:08.432 --> 00:30:14.895
So it's interesting what you say, because the only reason I'm commenting on that is the unique experience they set up around it.
565
00:30:14.935 --> 00:30:18.397
The buzz, the excitement to go that everyone was raving about it.
566
00:30:18.777 --> 00:30:22.279
And we talk now and say, should we nip to Toulouse and go and get steak and chicken?
567
00:30:22.299 --> 00:30:23.279
They want to go there now.
568
00:30:23.299 --> 00:30:25.320
So you're not just talking about the food, are you?
569
00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:26.620
That's right, and I forget that, yeah.
570
00:30:26.680 --> 00:30:29.601
I'm sure the food was delicious, but it was everything else around it.
571
00:30:29.621 --> 00:30:31.602
It was the buzz, the excitement, the novelty.
572
00:30:31.942 --> 00:30:34.103
I loved queuing, the anticipation of it.
573
00:30:34.123 --> 00:30:36.683
Even the fact that the lady that you were staying with, were you staying with?
574
00:30:36.703 --> 00:30:37.124
It was recommended.
575
00:30:37.164 --> 00:30:37.804
It was recommended.
576
00:30:37.864 --> 00:30:40.205
It was her villa we rented it off.
577
00:30:40.245 --> 00:30:44.106
Yeah, all these things, like building the excitement before you get there.
578
00:30:44.686 --> 00:30:46.106
Oh, this is something a bit unique.
579
00:30:46.126 --> 00:30:46.867
Yeah, you're right.
580
00:30:46.887 --> 00:30:49.287
That's what people want, I think, is unique experiences.
581
00:30:49.407 --> 00:30:51.408
Yes, there's a time and place for just like...
582
00:30:52.665 --> 00:31:13.018
you know what you want you're just gonna have it yeah um you're just yeah but like food can be fuel it's like just you're just eating it just just to keep it going or it can be it can be an experience it can be um a unique experience that you you can enjoy on your own but you can also share with others as well so uh
583
00:31:13.538 --> 00:31:19.562
So how does this tie into events when you say to people like run an event, you're saying one, do it because it means something to you.
584
00:31:19.582 --> 00:31:24.005
You want to do it to you saying focusing on the experience, not just the experience.
585
00:31:24.025 --> 00:31:24.245
Yes.
586
00:31:24.285 --> 00:31:27.607
So, you know, there's plenty of great event organizers.
587
00:31:29.088 --> 00:31:30.189
I'm sure your events are great.
588
00:31:30.209 --> 00:31:32.570
I've definitely been to one of your events.
589
00:31:32.910 --> 00:31:34.771
Not near a day to grow, but I've seen videos.
590
00:31:34.831 --> 00:31:38.452
I've seen clips of it and I've seen the vibe.
591
00:31:38.972 --> 00:31:41.233
There's a lot of love in the room for what you do.
592
00:31:41.293 --> 00:31:43.814
So you're obviously doing lots of great things there.
593
00:31:43.874 --> 00:31:44.195
Thank you.
594
00:31:44.215 --> 00:31:44.735
We're trying.
595
00:31:44.795 --> 00:31:45.535
Yeah.
596
00:31:46.095 --> 00:31:49.377
I think I mentioned before, Andrew and Peter, I think Atomicon.
597
00:31:49.657 --> 00:31:50.857
They've got great energy.
598
00:31:50.877 --> 00:31:52.178
People love them, don't they?
599
00:31:52.198 --> 00:31:54.538
A lot of the time, people are drawn to them.
600
00:31:54.738 --> 00:31:58.759
There's a lot of people in the audience who you can tell want to be like Andrew and Pete.
601
00:31:59.139 --> 00:32:05.101
There's definitely a bit of a, not a cult, but like a group of people that are really drawn to them.
602
00:32:06.061 --> 00:32:08.041
But there's also people who wouldn't be drawn to them.
603
00:32:08.401 --> 00:32:17.484
So sometimes the event organizer or host can be a draw and not a repellent, but people are drawn to different things.
604
00:32:18.124 --> 00:32:19.104
I think our events...
605
00:32:20.945 --> 00:32:21.786
I set the tone.
606
00:32:21.866 --> 00:32:26.250
I think I'm very relaxed and informal, very welcoming.
607
00:32:26.470 --> 00:32:31.755
I spend time chatting to people before, connecting people, making sure people are having a good time.
608
00:32:31.995 --> 00:32:32.235
Yeah.
609
00:32:32.595 --> 00:32:38.461
And because I'm fairly softly spoken, I think when I do my introduction, it puts people at ease.
610
00:32:38.481 --> 00:32:40.983
It puts the audience at ease and it puts the speakers at ease.
611
00:32:41.724 --> 00:32:43.265
But that's my style of event.
612
00:32:43.545 --> 00:32:43.765
Yeah.
613
00:32:44.026 --> 00:32:45.307
And I would maybe...
614
00:32:45.787 --> 00:33:09.433
behave in a different way at a bigger event if i was speaking at a bigger event yeah but that's the vibe that i've created with the platform events yeah and i think we tend to attract everyone's different but we tend to attract people that want to learn want to share knowledge want to share insights want to not only grow their business but want to help other people go their own business yeah so i think we don't
615
00:33:10.558 --> 00:33:13.119
who don't tend to attract arseholes, basically.
616
00:33:13.139 --> 00:33:13.659
Who?
617
00:33:13.859 --> 00:33:14.339
Arseholes.
618
00:33:14.359 --> 00:33:16.120
Oh, that's why I haven't been in a while.
619
00:33:16.140 --> 00:33:19.281
But you know, there's like, we don't tend to...
620
00:33:19.861 --> 00:33:21.962
I know what you're saying, good-hearted people, we're the same.
621
00:33:22.002 --> 00:33:26.024
Yeah, you think, sometimes I think, why are these people not coming to our events?
622
00:33:26.084 --> 00:33:29.365
And I probably know they're probably already self-selected out.
623
00:33:29.425 --> 00:33:30.825
Yeah, which is a good thing.
624
00:33:30.865 --> 00:33:34.467
They probably know that they're not going to fit in because they're too...
625
00:33:35.907 --> 00:34:04.765
trying to take yeah yeah yeah I know exactly what you mean you can take and give yeah you know at different levels but like if you just so sometimes quite often I'll get people saying oh so you need to do great events I want to speak at your event it's like okay great what do you know about them they don't know anything about them they just know that I've got big members they just want into your network they want to come they want to tap into the audience and then leave again and I'm like well I'm always looking for speakers but I'd prefer you to come first so you can experience it
626
00:34:05.675 --> 00:34:07.196
So come to at least once.
627
00:34:08.197 --> 00:34:12.380
And then if you like it, you know the format, then we can get you speaking.
628
00:34:12.420 --> 00:34:15.723
But I don't really like it when people just want to come in.
629
00:34:15.743 --> 00:34:16.964
Yeah, yeah, use and abuse.
630
00:34:16.984 --> 00:34:17.944
Yeah, no, I totally get it.
631
00:34:18.305 --> 00:34:21.848
So third tip is be true to you.
632
00:34:21.948 --> 00:34:24.530
Do what is natural to you, what is true to you.
633
00:34:24.550 --> 00:34:26.111
If you're more of a connector, use it.
634
00:34:26.151 --> 00:34:28.893
If you're more of a kind of speaker projector, use it.
635
00:34:29.113 --> 00:34:30.195
Exactly, yeah.
636
00:34:30.616 --> 00:34:33.600
Yeah, it's an overused word, but definitely authentic.
637
00:34:33.620 --> 00:34:34.782
You know, it's me.
638
00:34:34.822 --> 00:34:38.568
It's like, it's my personality and my style of doing things.
639
00:34:38.588 --> 00:34:39.229
I'm not saying it's...
640
00:34:40.008 --> 00:35:06.427
right for everyone but it works and the fact that we've uh consistently get that many people come in every event yeah and you know regularly get a lot of uh plaudits and praise and yeah people saying positive things online and and privately saying how much they've enjoyed it so uh we're obviously doing something something right with that um so yeah so also probably when if you're doing your first event like
641
00:35:07.826 --> 00:35:10.167
Try and keep a tight rein on your costs.
642
00:35:10.287 --> 00:35:23.532
Because sometimes people think if I just chuck everything at it, like if I hire the most expensive venue, put loads of catering in, do loads of nice to haves on top of it, that's going to make a difference.
643
00:35:25.933 --> 00:35:29.234
You can do that without breaking the bank.
644
00:35:29.654 --> 00:35:34.415
And ultimately, you want to do you want to be able to keep doing these events?
645
00:35:34.435 --> 00:35:34.795
Yeah.
646
00:35:34.815 --> 00:35:40.237
You need to make you've got to at least break even, but ideally make some profits from this so you can keep going.
647
00:35:40.577 --> 00:35:41.157
Yeah.
648
00:35:41.377 --> 00:35:43.878
And your first event doesn't have to be amazing.
649
00:35:44.618 --> 00:36:12.645
um you know it's got to be good yeah but it doesn't have to be like ridiculous put you into debt yeah like last year I'll not say who it was but last year I was doing a bit of consultancy work with a an event organizer who um it was quite an established event that he bought the rights to right so it'd been running for a while was doing okay then it sort of lost its way a bit and then he bought the rights to it and he'd done three I think when I got involved and he'd lost money
650
00:36:14.285 --> 00:36:37.609
right because he was spending loads of money on the venue he was paying big speaker fees he was flying people in from all over the world all this and he was losing money every time yeah so one of the things i was like said was right okay we've got to like strip it down get a smaller venue spend less on the venue scale it down instead of being like a two-day event make it a one-day event
651
00:36:38.109 --> 00:36:43.655
I look at the future all the time and I think about what can I do to continue to grow and how do I safeguard and all of that.
652
00:36:44.415 --> 00:36:53.785
I've had a crazy thought that I've thought about stopping paying into my pension because I think I am listening to people saying pensions are going to be redundant in 10 years.
653
00:36:54.245 --> 00:36:57.629
And I think, God, what if I didn't put the money into my pension and I used it now?
654
00:36:57.689 --> 00:36:59.391
So like a little bit random, but I have that thought.
655
00:36:59.811 --> 00:37:02.234
But then I think, how do I safeguard for the future?
656
00:37:02.334 --> 00:37:13.085
I always think if AI does come in and there are people who've committed their lives to knowledge, knowing things, bring a consultant in, they have that knowledge gone, going because of AI.
657
00:37:13.305 --> 00:37:13.445
Yeah.
658
00:37:14.246 --> 00:37:17.727
And next it's going to be like the dexterity of what robots can do and things.
659
00:37:18.107 --> 00:37:21.608
So I always think like, what is so unique that a robot cannot do it?
660
00:37:21.689 --> 00:37:22.949
AI cannot do it.
661
00:37:23.449 --> 00:37:31.632
And I think for me, the only things I can think of right now are storytelling, human experience, writing books, memoirs.
662
00:37:31.652 --> 00:37:32.612
I think it's really important.
663
00:37:33.232 --> 00:37:39.655
And then the other one is experiences, getting people together to have a deeply human experience.
664
00:37:40.195 --> 00:37:42.315
What's your version of that?
665
00:37:42.375 --> 00:37:43.876
When you look to the future, you think...
666
00:37:44.496 --> 00:37:45.497
I'm going to change this.
667
00:37:45.958 --> 00:37:47.279
This is how I'm going to safeguard.
668
00:37:47.359 --> 00:37:48.640
This is what I'm going to do.
669
00:37:49.260 --> 00:37:50.782
No, I think you're spot on there.
670
00:37:51.002 --> 00:37:55.826
Definitely humanity, like to be as human as possible.
671
00:37:55.866 --> 00:38:04.113
So what are the human experiences that AI can't replicate or can't do at the moment?
672
00:38:04.233 --> 00:38:06.495
So it's things like in-person events.
673
00:38:07.216 --> 00:38:10.259
It's the experiences, shared experiences that you have with other people.
674
00:38:12.553 --> 00:38:15.455
I mean, you know, most AI tools, you're using it in isolation.
675
00:38:15.655 --> 00:38:19.758
You're doing things on your own, on your laptop or your phone.
676
00:38:19.798 --> 00:38:22.500
You're not necessarily doing it as a team collectively.
677
00:38:22.520 --> 00:38:23.961
You're not enjoying it as a team.
678
00:38:24.541 --> 00:38:32.066
So there's a reason why people still go to the cinema, why people go to football matches, sporting occasions, why people still come to events.
679
00:38:32.687 --> 00:38:34.328
So I think anything that's going to,
680
00:38:35.068 --> 00:38:56.355
um yeah create opportunities for in-person experiences is uh is the way to go in the future yeah people will be craving that more and more so it's actually what what i decided this year was not to do another uk startup and scale up week event this year so at the moment that's a purely online thing right so the platform events are in person yeah
681
00:38:57.055 --> 00:38:58.856
every month with a bit of online content.
682
00:38:59.356 --> 00:39:04.779
In the UK, Startup and Scale-Up Week, it's a purely online website and social media.
683
00:39:05.259 --> 00:39:14.764
So every week I'm doing blogs, videos, podcasts, guides, social media, email, newsletter, because I'm saying every week's a Startup and Scale-Up Week.
684
00:39:15.165 --> 00:39:22.648
So anybody who's starting or growing a business, I'd like them to use that website and the social media or be featured on it.
685
00:39:22.969 --> 00:39:25.190
We're filling it with businesses who are...
686
00:39:25.790 --> 00:39:32.070
starting and growing businesses across the UK, but mostly Northeast at the moment because...
687
00:39:33.270 --> 00:39:37.233
I don't think there's another website really quite like that that does what we're doing.
688
00:39:37.553 --> 00:39:43.077
But anything that's startup news or business news, it tends to be very London centric.
689
00:39:43.358 --> 00:39:50.763
And I wanted something that's UK significant, but rooted in the northeast, north of England.
690
00:39:51.424 --> 00:39:55.747
So if anyone's watching this or listening to this, please do check out the website.
691
00:39:55.767 --> 00:39:56.367
What's the URL?
692
00:39:56.407 --> 00:39:57.008
What's the URL?
693
00:39:57.877 --> 00:40:03.982
So it's still UKstartupweek.com, but the website's UK Startup and Scale-Up Week.
694
00:40:04.202 --> 00:40:05.143
So if you search for it, you'll find it.
695
00:40:05.163 --> 00:40:07.745
If they search that, they'll find Paul Lancaster, they'll find you.
696
00:40:07.765 --> 00:40:09.887
And the same with all the social media channels as well.
697
00:40:10.387 --> 00:40:17.813
And the audience, what I've realized as well, events are great, people love the events, but actually what everyone wants is...
698
00:40:18.353 --> 00:40:20.195
They want help with the marketing and promotion.
699
00:40:20.535 --> 00:40:33.264
They want help building an audience, tapping into an audience, which is why we started off in the service where people can have a business profile on the site and be promoted through all our channels.
700
00:40:33.585 --> 00:40:33.905
So, yeah.
701
00:40:34.414 --> 00:40:35.075
Amazing.
702
00:40:35.495 --> 00:40:37.096
Paul, thank you so much.
703
00:40:37.116 --> 00:40:40.820
What a brilliant conversation covering lots of different factors.
704
00:40:41.060 --> 00:40:42.261
I have thoroughly enjoyed that.
705
00:40:42.822 --> 00:40:46.044
I would normally ask where can people find you, but I think you've done a good version of that.
706
00:40:46.064 --> 00:40:47.045
It's pretty easy to find.
707
00:40:47.085 --> 00:40:47.245
Yeah.
708
00:40:47.285 --> 00:40:51.749
Just search for Paul Lancaster, obviously, or UK Startup and Scale-Up Week.
709
00:40:52.430 --> 00:40:55.112
I mean, the websites have said ukstartupweek.com.
710
00:40:55.393 --> 00:40:55.613
Yeah.
711
00:40:55.733 --> 00:40:58.395
The platform, it's platformevents.ai.
712
00:40:58.535 --> 00:40:58.876
Yes.
713
00:40:59.036 --> 00:40:59.336
Okay.
714
00:40:59.476 --> 00:40:59.937
So there is a
715
00:41:00.337 --> 00:41:23.863
dot ai i know it's a bit of a nod to the future because uh dot com wasn't available dot co.uk wasn't available so i thought i'd put that in there and at the minute like we do use a little bit of ai just to for tasks but what i'd love to do is some sort of um tool that would make it easier to encourage collaboration and connecting people that's something i've wanted to do basically
716
00:41:30.905 --> 00:41:45.756
all the feedback I've got from people is we're just like you doing what you're doing so just keep doing what you're doing yeah it's that human piece isn't it well when and if you get that going come back and tell us all about it thank you thanks Paul thank you so much you've been a brilliant guest thank you very much thank you thanks Lisa thank you