Full Transcript for Everything You Need to Know About Building a Powerful Network

00:01:44.324 --> 00:01:44.604 Yeah. 38 00:01:45.024 --> 00:01:49.787 So if I couldn't get northeast speakers, my next preference was northern speakers. 39 00:01:50.228 --> 00:01:51.569 So he was from Manchester. 40 00:01:51.589 --> 00:01:57.713 So I thought, OK, predominantly northeast with some northern, bring him over. 41 00:01:58.473 --> 00:02:00.216 And he was amazing. 42 00:02:00.316 --> 00:02:04.622 And, you know, we had just over 800 people there to hear him speak. 43 00:02:04.782 --> 00:02:07.786 And he probably gained 800 new followers that day. 44 00:02:08.887 --> 00:02:10.069 Because he was so good. 45 00:02:10.089 --> 00:02:11.030 Because he was so good. 46 00:02:11.050 --> 00:02:11.791 He was so good. 47 00:02:11.972 --> 00:02:13.273 What was so good about him back then? 48 00:02:13.293 --> 00:02:13.834 What did you see? 49 00:02:15.432 --> 00:02:21.934 Well, he was obviously running a very successful company, a lot of buzz around him and the business he was running. 50 00:02:22.374 --> 00:02:26.995 But when he came, it was like a ripple of excitement. 51 00:02:27.055 --> 00:02:30.076 I've not sort of seen much of that. 52 00:02:30.296 --> 00:02:33.637 I've seen it at gigs and music festivals and stuff. 53 00:02:34.097 --> 00:02:37.918 But anyway, he came in, he was at the back of the room, there was like a bit of a buzz around it. 54 00:02:37.938 --> 00:02:42.499 And when he came on, I think he did about 50 minutes talk. 55 00:02:42.559 --> 00:02:42.919 And I think... 56 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:53.542 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. 57 00:02:53.562 --> 00:02:55.922 So very inspirational and motivational. 58 00:02:56.523 --> 00:03:03.625 And then the final 10 minutes or so were real quick fire tips and advice on this is where marketing is now. 59 00:03:03.685 --> 00:03:04.985 This is the future of marketing. 60 00:03:05.005 --> 00:03:07.826 This is what all the social media channels want you to do. 61 00:03:08.746 --> 00:03:12.949 So it was... And when he came off stage, there was literally just like everyone... 62 00:03:12.970 --> 00:03:14.531 It was like a throng. 63 00:03:14.591 --> 00:03:15.852 People just gathered around him. 64 00:03:15.972 --> 00:03:16.853 Like he was a rock star. 65 00:03:16.873 --> 00:03:17.793 Like he was a rock star. 66 00:03:17.813 --> 00:03:21.336 People were rushing up to him to talk to him and get his autograph and stuff like that. 67 00:03:22.037 --> 00:03:22.617 And... 68 00:03:22.737 --> 00:03:23.938 So they knew who he was. 69 00:03:24.018 --> 00:03:25.660 He must have pulled some of them in. 70 00:03:25.780 --> 00:03:26.881 Well, some, but I don't... 71 00:03:26.901 --> 00:03:33.406 I think some people were just so excited by his presence and his charisma. 72 00:03:34.347 --> 00:03:34.767 But like... 73 00:03:35.928 --> 00:03:39.271 Bless them, straight after him, Andrew and Pete from Atomicon.

74 00:03:39.392 --> 00:03:39.732 Yes. 75 00:03:39.852 --> 00:03:40.413 Amazing. 76 00:03:40.573 --> 00:03:40.693 Yeah. 77 00:03:40.953 --> 00:03:46.238 They'd asked to go on last after Stephen Bartlett, which was like, with hindsight, a mistake. 78 00:03:46.319 --> 00:03:46.959 A mistake. 79 00:03:46.979 --> 00:03:50.983 Because the energy in the room was all about Stephen Bartlett. 80 00:03:51.504 --> 00:03:57.310 So we had to ask him and people to go outside because it was just distracting, everything going on. 81 00:03:57.330 --> 00:03:57.870 And so... 82 00:03:58.811 --> 00:04:02.413 I can't remember, but there was, he stood outside for about two hours. 83 00:04:03.294 --> 00:04:08.898 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. 84 00:04:08.918 --> 00:04:10.459 He stayed and supported everyone. 85 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:13.941 And then afterwards he was saying that was such an amazing event. 86 00:04:14.321 --> 00:04:21.726 Like he, like, I know they're good events, but like he was really excited about what had just happened there. 87 00:04:21.866 --> 00:04:22.146 Yeah. 88 00:04:22.547 --> 00:04:26.229 And then posting on social media and how great it was and. 89 00:04:27.621 --> 00:04:30.303 Like I was going to say, I've kept in touch with him a little bit, but I haven't. 90 00:04:30.463 --> 00:04:36.468 Obviously, he's then gone on to be mega successful with his books and his podcasts and Dragon's Den. 91 00:04:36.828 --> 00:04:37.929 Do you think you could get him back? 92 00:04:39.170 --> 00:04:41.172 I wouldn't get him for the same price though. 93 00:04:42.453 --> 00:04:46.035 So I'll tell you, some people know this, right? 94 00:04:46.055 --> 00:04:52.640 So most of the speakers, when I do the events, have done it for free because it's promoting their business. 95 00:04:52.660 --> 00:04:54.362 They've got products or services to sell. 96 00:04:54.522 --> 00:04:54.702 Yeah. 97 00:04:55.022 --> 00:04:56.724 So generally, I'll only... 98 00:04:57.364 --> 00:05:04.867 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. 99 00:05:05.587 --> 00:05:07.308 So I did actually pay him. 100 00:05:07.448 --> 00:05:09.468 And for me, that was quite a lot of money. 101 00:05:09.548 --> 00:05:16.211 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. 102 00:05:17.496 --> 00:05:22.638 And I don't think I actually got five grand's worth of ticket sales back by booking him. 103 00:05:23.118 --> 00:05:25.779 So that's the risk of booking a famous speaker. 104 00:05:26.239 --> 00:05:35.783 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. 105 00:05:36.083 --> 00:05:42.725 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. 106 00:05:42.745 --> 00:05:46.327 You had Stephen Bartlett speaking at your event before he was famous. 107 00:05:46.367 --> 00:05:46.647 So it's, 108 00:05:47.736 --> 00:05:51.558 Yeah, it's, but it was interesting. 109 00:05:51.818 --> 00:05:53.719 I've got a few stories like that. 110 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:56.240 So, but that was a good lesson. 111 00:05:56.940 --> 00:05:58.681 You wouldn't get him for less than a hundred grand now. 112 00:05:58.801 --> 00:06:03.543 You know, it's like, but anyway, but five grand, I was like, okay, great speaker. 113 00:06:03.563 --> 00:06:04.743 I know that he's going to be amazing. 114 00:06:05.463 --> 00:06:09.565 I think what happened was when I first started talking to him, it was him I was talking to. 115 00:06:10.165 --> 00:06:15.868 But as his career was taken off, he started having assistants managing his social media channels. 116 00:06:15.888 --> 00:06:16.048 Yeah. 117 00:06:16.548 --> 00:06:20.871 And I worked out that if I was messaging him like really late at night, it was him. 118 00:06:21.591 --> 00:06:24.673 But if I was messaging him during the day, it was his assistants. 119 00:06:24.733 --> 00:06:25.854 And they were like the gatekeepers. 120 00:06:26.614 --> 00:06:30.296 So anyway, as he got busier and busier, I wasn't talking to him. 121 00:06:30.317 --> 00:06:32.278 He started staying up till midnight to message him. 122 00:06:32.318 --> 00:06:35.520 Yeah, but even so, it was like when I was with him, yeah. 123 00:06:36.220 --> 00:06:37.701 Like, it was great. 124 00:06:37.781 --> 00:06:38.942 So I was like, okay. 125 00:06:39.342 --> 00:06:45.167 Anyway, the lesson there is it gets a lockdown in your contract, but you're going to get them to do certain things. 126 00:06:46.828 --> 00:06:51.612 Compare that to another guy who's not as well known, but I think is an amazing speaker. 127 00:06:51.632 --> 00:06:54.654 There's a guy called Brad Burton, who's like... Oh, I know him. 128 00:06:54.674 --> 00:06:55.294 Yeah, I've seen him. 129 00:06:55.314 --> 00:06:55.475 Yeah. 130 00:06:55.495 --> 00:06:55.895 So he... 131 00:06:56.315 --> 00:06:57.556 I've known him for a long, long time. 132 00:06:57.596 --> 00:06:59.376 I've done lots of work with him over the years. 133 00:06:59.857 --> 00:07:01.858 Really trust Brad to always deliver. 134 00:07:01.878 --> 00:07:05.599 He's an amazing motivational business speaker. 135 00:07:06.099 --> 00:07:06.620 Really good. 136 00:07:07.120 --> 00:07:07.820 High energy. 137 00:07:09.881 --> 00:07:11.042 Whenever I've done a big event, 138 00:07:12.042 --> 00:07:15.304 in the Newcastle events, the three events, I've always started with him. 139 00:07:15.384 --> 00:07:17.285 He's like come out of the traps. 140 00:07:17.365 --> 00:07:18.386 Set the tone, yeah. 141 00:07:18.406 --> 00:07:20.507 Loads of energy, hyping everyone up. 142 00:07:21.047

--> 00:07:22.028 Amazing speaker. 143 00:07:22.668 --> 00:07:24.830 Everything he says is like really well rehearsed. 144 00:07:24.850 --> 00:07:29.172 So it's almost like a stand up comedian where every word and every line just hits. 145 00:07:29.372 --> 00:07:29.613 Yeah. 146 00:07:29.793 --> 00:07:30.793 Almost like a punch line. 147 00:07:30.853 --> 00:07:31.234 So it's like. 148 00:07:32.775 --> 00:07:58.113 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 149 00:07:58.413 --> 00:08:02.496 So definitely you want people that will get behind it and help support. 150 00:08:02.536 --> 00:08:05.138 The more you can get, the better. 151 00:08:06.199 --> 00:08:07.640 Last year, Sarah Davies. 152 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:08.140 Yeah. 153 00:08:08.600 --> 00:08:10.722 So love Sarah Davies. 154 00:08:10.762 --> 00:08:12.983 Thought she'd be an amazing speaker. 155 00:08:14.064 --> 00:08:14.705 Didn't know her. 156 00:08:14.925 --> 00:08:16.546 Knew a few people who seemed to know her. 157 00:08:16.826 --> 00:08:17.767 Asked them if they were doing it. 158 00:08:17.827 --> 00:08:19.488 They were like, oh, yeah, we know Sarah Davies. 159 00:08:19.508 --> 00:08:20.649 We'll get her to speak to you. 160 00:08:20.669 --> 00:08:21.289 I was like, right, okay. 161 00:08:21.309 --> 00:08:21.409 Yeah. 162 00:08:22.210 --> 00:08:24.852 I kept asking them, the introduction never came. 163 00:08:24.872 --> 00:08:25.852 So I was like, right, okay. 164 00:08:26.152 --> 00:08:27.473 I'm going to go the official route. 165 00:08:28.054 --> 00:08:30.215 So I went to her speaker, agent. 166 00:08:30.555 --> 00:08:30.775 Yeah. 167 00:08:31.776 --> 00:08:32.476 London-based. 168 00:08:33.257 --> 00:08:34.157 Yeah, great event. 169 00:08:34.197 --> 00:08:35.658 We'd love to have Sarah Davies. 170 00:08:35.718 --> 00:08:36.379 Speak at this event. 171 00:08:36.419 --> 00:08:36.939 It's £20,000. 172 00:08:37.199 --> 00:08:40.741 Sarah Davies is like, oh, right, I can't afford £20,000. 173 00:08:40.761 --> 00:08:41.041 Yeah. 174 00:08:41.061 --> 00:08:44.123 It's like, I could probably afford five. 175 00:08:44.543 --> 00:08:44.664 Yeah. 176 00:08:44.684 --> 00:08:44.924 Right? 177 00:08:45.024 --> 00:08:46.024 That's like the benchmark. 178 00:08:46.044 --> 00:08:48.146 So it was like, Stephen Bartlett spoke. 179 00:08:48.166 --> 00:08:48.266 Yeah. 180 00:08:48.966 --> 00:08:50.106 Love Sarah Davis this week. 181 00:08:50.527 --> 00:08:53.348 It's literally a 15-minute drive from where she lives. 182 00:08:54.108 --> 00:08:56.509 It's all about the Northeast, which I know she's passionate about. 183 00:08:56.529 --> 00:08:59.250 It's a really good fit for the brand. 184 00:08:59.330 --> 00:09:01.211 So she's really good at marketing and sales. 185 00:09:01.311 --> 00:09:04.212 And I was like, can you at least put the offer to her? 186 00:09:04.512 --> 00:09:05.252 See what she says. 187 00:09:05.292 --> 00:09:05.792 Good for you. 188 00:09:05.812 --> 00:09:06.553 I love this. 189 00:09:06.733 --> 00:09:07.653 So they did. 190 00:09:08.213 --> 00:09:09.154 And they came back and said, 191 00:09:09.794 --> 00:09:12.137 But one time only, never done before. 192 00:09:12.597 --> 00:09:15.140 Sorry, David's is happy to do it for five grand. 193 00:09:15.240 --> 00:09:16.421 So it's like, amazing. 194 00:09:16.481 --> 00:09:16.762 Okay. 195 00:09:16.842 --> 00:09:20.866 It's like, can you please set up a meeting so I can have a chat with an explainer? 196 00:09:21.346 --> 00:09:25.351 So I know there are other people that should do stuff for charities for free. 197 00:09:25.431 --> 00:09:25.791 Yeah. 198 00:09:25.891 --> 00:09:28.334 Some like close friends of her, she'll do things for free. 199 00:09:28.514 --> 00:09:28.694 Yeah. 200 00:09:28.814 --> 00:09:31.758 But for a business event, that's her going rate, right? 201 00:09:31.778 --> 00:09:31.898 Yeah. 202 00:09:32.718 --> 00:09:35.399 Anyway, I had a video call with her and we just hit it off. 203 00:09:35.559 --> 00:09:36.959 Yeah, she's really cool, isn't she? 204 00:09:36.999 --> 00:09:37.639 We got in so well. 205 00:09:37.699 --> 00:09:45.961 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. 206 00:09:46.421 --> 00:09:51.323 I'm all behind it and I'm going to really get behind the event and push it at every opportunity. 207 00:09:52.203 --> 00:09:56.264 Interestingly, she said, I don't know how to use LinkedIn. 208 00:09:56.404 --> 00:09:58.124 I don't know how to use social media. 209 00:09:59.144 --> 00:10:01.725 So can you show me how to like, 210 00:10:02.065 --> 00:10:03.629 So you've trained sour babies. 211 00:10:03.649 --> 00:10:04.391 So I was like, right. 212 00:10:04.612 --> 00:10:07.579 So on the call, I was like, look, I've just announced you as a speaker. 213 00:10:07.960 --> 00:10:08.662 Can you like... 214 00:10:09.581 --> 00:10:10.421 Click on that button. 215 00:10:10.441 --> 00:10:10.681 Yeah. 216 00:10:10.722 --> 00:10:11.862 Can you repost it? 217 00:10:11.882 --> 00:10:13.002 So she did it on the call. 218 00:10:13.363 --> 00:10:13.563 Yeah. 219 00:10:13.903 --> 00:10:14.903 So she was like, right, great. 220 00:10:14.923 --> 00:10:18.044 I'll get my assistants to like, do it from now on. 221 00:10:18.425 --> 00:10:18.525 Yeah. 222 00:10:18.545 --> 00:10:19.425 So that's a little insight. 223 00:10:19.445 --> 00:10:27.188 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. 224 00:10:27.648 --> 00:10:29.449 And on the day, she was amazing. 225 00:10:29.909 --> 00:10:31.530 And backstage, she was amazing. 226 00:10:31.630 --> 00:10:32.830 On stage, she was amazing. 227 00:10:32.890 --> 00:10:37.172 And I think having the opportunity to talk to her and explain what the event was all about made her 228 00:10:37.752 --> 00:11:06.898 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 229 00:11:07.638 --> 00:11:08.298 I'll give her a shout out. 230 00:11:08.318 --> 00:11:12.541 This is thanks to Sophie Millican. 231 00:11:12.961 --> 00:11:15.203 She did a recommendation to him. 232 00:11:15.223 --> 00:11:19.366 She said, look, I think you should take a call or have a chat with Paul. 233 00:11:19.386 --> 00:11:22.107 Sophie Millican's very well connected, isn't she? 234 00:11:22.447 --> 00:11:28.211 Because I had a long list of speakers and he was on them, but I didn't know how to get to him anyway. 235 00:11:28.852 --> 00:11:30.493 So I had a chat with him. 236 00:11:31.213 --> 00:11:32.354 his assistant as well. 237 00:11:33.975 --> 00:11:35.536 And he just came up for the day. 238 00:11:35.656 --> 00:11:44.021 He got the train up in the morning to Sunderland to the event last year and left the same day. 239 00:11:44.101 --> 00:11:46.382 So he just came for the event. 240 00:11:46.402 --> 00:11:48.123 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