The Importance of Standing Out in Business

There are many things that make up a successful small business but by far one of the most important things we need to keep in mind when we have a small business is to stand out and be different.

Being different helps in three ways

1. When you stand out from the crowd it makes it easy for people to remember you.

2. Finding creative ways to stand out draws attention to your business and frequently brings PR and free plugs that you may not have normally achieved.

3. You attract people of like mind to your business, which makes the sales process easy for you because they have attracted to you naturally rather than you trying to draw them in.

I was reminded of the importance of standing out when it came time to choose the winner of this years Utopia prize draw of a months coaching with me. When you view the video you will see how a very simple addition to the entry form made the selection of a winner a no-brainer.

It also highlights the need to be vigilant and adding creative bursts of colour to everything we do.

Utopia is finished................. sadly

Well what a week in paradise!

Utopia was AWESOME last year but this year it was even AWESOMER (is that a word?) Everytime I think back to the very special moments shared over the weekend it brings me back into the fabulous heart space that was created over the weekend.

It was fabulous to meet up with last years presenters and to meet the new ones who were experiencing this special event for the first time. Words cannot adequately describe how wonderful it is to be with people of like mind for an extended period of time.

I have stayed on in Noosa for a little longer than anticipated because several of the presenters were involved with a fabulous event called Earth Magic and I decided I was so close and it would be rude not to attend - so I did and had an equally fabulous time experiencing the lovely Raeleen Burn speaking her truth and Jeremy Donovan wowing the crowd with his amazing knowledge and mind blowing didge playing oh and who knew he could play native american flute so adeptly. Raeleen and Jeremy released their CD at the event and celebrated all the joyous miracles that have occured for them this year as they step futher into their divine energy and soul purpose.

So as I soak up the blue skies and sunshine so foreign to this Victorian - you will be pleased to know I'm getting back to work and have interviewed my awesome hosts Sandy and Curly Harris of Relationship Mechanics about our experience of Utopia International Retreat

The Speakers Road to Utopia .....2 more sleeps to go

Some brave decisions have been made, the keynote is down to 45 minutes and the aliens have proved less than reliable in the beam me up stakes - so it looks like I'm going to Utopia International Retreat in Noosa after all.

For a short time yesterday I was led to believe by a client that storms were expected over the Gold Coast - that would be too much cosmic humour when all I want to see is some blue skies.

BUT it appears clouds are not showing up on the Sunshine Coast but the weather report is looking quite bizarre. They seem to consistently use double digits to report their temperatures and are prone to put 2 and 3's in front of their numbers.

Thursday - Fine - Max 30
Friday - Fine - Max 29
Saturday - Fine - Max 26

Coming from central Victoria that seems very odd but it does at least say its going to be fine in the land of the fading curtains. You've got to love Queensland - they even give me back the hour I lost to daylight savings earlier in the month. Sleep in and still make the yoga session = EXCELLENT!

I'm also looking forward to walks by the river pictured above. The river is straight across the pedestrian crossing from the resort and it really is a world apart.

My only concern now is that I haven't as yet experienced the "I'M JUST NOT GOING" hissy fit but I dare say that will come. There seems a routine to these speaking jitters so the appearance of the detailed packing list is bound to set that one off.

Now if only I can change:

Wednesday - Windy and few showers - Max 11

I might even manage to get the washing dry and have clean underwear before I head to the airport tomorrow - its the golden rule of travel - always have clean underwear when travelling the highway of life.

I speak Friday afternoon and present a workshop on Saturday afternoon and then I get to play for the rest of the weekend - guess that makes up for the "speaker belly" and irrational hissy fits.

I'm booked in for Lia Scallon's Crystal Skulls workshop and my big manifesting crystal is coming to get activated by her well travelled crystal skull. I have no idea what that entails but will be excited to find out. Lia also does the opening ceremony which I will be participating in as well so I'll be fascinated to hear her channel the sounds of Sirius. I have little knowledge of Lia's work and her crystal skulls but they seem to be turning up all over the world so I am very much looking forward to that. PLUS I get to go to everyone else's keynotes and watch them do the jittery speaker routine that will be well and truly over for me by the time the cocktail hour rocks in on Friday night. Shame I don't drink!

My place under the palm tree by the pool awaits.

The Speakers Road to Utopia .....3 more sleeps to go

The answer is aliens today. It seems the only sane way – three more sleeps to go and my keynote is still over time – I’ve taken some out and more crept in while I wasn’t looking!!! A few Klingons on the starboard bow right now would be the answer - aliens beaming me up will solve the need to go on.

But let’s hope the aliens beam me up after I get to Noosa because it’s grey and pouring with rain here and we welcome the rain but I’d really like to see some blue skies. A few hours by the pool at Australis after the Utopia International Retreat has finished will be welcome respite from the grey.



This lead up is really making me look back and understand how far I’ve come in this crazy journey I’ve been on for the past 10 years. A keynote really helps you reflect on the things that have become important to your message.

Speaking is one of the scariest and most irrational things you can do as a human because it takes you away from the tribe. Anytime we disconnect from the tribe or our community or the group of people that happens to be in front of us, we go into discomfort.

Discomfort is our greatest friend. As humans we rarely make a bold move if everything around us is fine, its just human nature to want to keep the status quo balanced. But speaking is one of the few things you do that tip that status quo on a voluntary basis. Speakers, musicians, workshops leaders, rally leaders, we all actually put our hands up to place ourselves outside the normal comfort zone. Most would rather die than speak in public so it’s why people are so inspired when you do and speaking is a totally learnable skill for most people.

I’m SO glad I learnt how BUT in the lead up to this un-natural way of being …….. of course I am forced to ask myself constantly throughout he day WHAT WAS I THINKING!

Now where are those aliens?

The Speakers Road to Utopia .....4 more sleeps to go

Well not many days now until I take off for Noosa to deliver the opening keynote speech at Utopia International Retreat.

Everything is looking good – I’ve put in all my paperwork – I’m booked in row 8A so don’t have to do the bun fight up the back of the plane and all is looking good.

There are four sleeps now until I speak and I have a funky new hair do and I’ve just come back from a wonderful massage and reflexology session so I’m totally ready to go on one level.

HOWEVER I’m sitting here wondering how I can get out of it – who I could substitute and despite having the most awesome experience last time I spoke I'm wondering why did I ever say I would do it again in the first place! Was I totally mad, what was I thinking! This is totally normal and par for the course and in fact has been going on now for a about week but still I can't come up with a good enough excuse not to go on. Got four more sleeps to go though......

But despite all the drama queen voices fighting for a position in the queue I’ve written my keynote and it’s 15 minutes longer than it needs to be and now there is anguish over which part has to go ….. and there’s four more sleeps to go!

What Would You Die For?

It was Monday lunch time so why would a bunch of hairy old hippies in bad trousers who insisted on ending every sentence with “man”, lead me to ponder the deep question “what would I die for”?

I went to see the movie “The Boat That Rocked” and after being immersed in lashings of humour, great rock and roll music and the inevitable over indulgence in every transgression on offer in the 60’s, I ended up in a deep and meaningful moment asking myself “what would I die for”.

As is often the case with comedy, through all the joviality I was moved to tears as the story progressively rocked toward some moments of truth.

Set in the mid 60’s the story is based on a bunch of rebellious DJ’s who had been banned by the authorities from playing rock and roll music from land based studios.

With everything SO accessible today, this situation seems ludicrous. But yes back in the 60’s the only place for British teenagers to hear rock and roll on their transistor radios or “trannies” (the 60’s equivalent of an i-pod not a Rocky Horror cast member) was to tune into the legendary pirate radio stations anchored in the freezing cold waters of the North Sea. At best floating rust buckets and worst case death traps bouncing about in appalling weather conditions, the colourful crew happily rocked on and raised their finger at the straight-laced government authorities who were constantly battling to take them off air.

As the movie progressed I realised I “knew” all the characters. I had worked with every single one of them when in the 70’s I played in a glitter band in the only licensed nightclub in the bottom half of New Zealand’s North Island. They had different names and faces of course but their personalities and souls were identical.

Not wishing to give away too much of the plot the government eventually legislate them out of existence and it’s a bit like the synopsis of the Titanic story – “the boat sinks”. But when it came time to be taken back to the safety and legitimacy of the shore, the DJ’s refused to budge. They kept working although they were now breaking the law and risked jail terms in doing so. When the boat started taking on water instead of heading for safety, they continued to broadcast – knee deep, then waist deep in water. They were prepared to go down with the ship, just like the musicians on the Titanic did.

I know it was fiction but because I “knew” these people so well, I understood that all those years ago I would have done exactly the same thing. Without a thought for my own personal safety, the passion I had for my work would have kept me playing. My band would have been the same, as would the motley bunch of bouncers, bar workers and floor staff that populated that seedy, sin infested night club in the 70’s. We had a common vision and a common goal, to create the best possible experience for our patrons. With a community that strong, anything becomes possible.

On the way home I became quite sad as I pondered my current position. I work in a field that is similar to rock and roll; our industry has many similarities. It is not conventional, we have alternate views to the mainstream, there is heavy opposition from places of power and therapists and musicians have the same morbid fascination with bodily function. But the most important comparison is that our product or output comes directly from the soul.

So why isn’t our industry more cohesive?

• Why are most therapists governed by fear - the fear of promoting their businesses’; fear of being seen as pushy or aggressive or showing off if they “toot their own horn”.
  
• Why is money such a taboo subject?
  
• Why is success thought so shameful by so many?
  
• Why are so many “waiting for a sign” or permission from some external source to help all the people who are injured, suffering, unwell or needing positive guidance – is the current state of the world not enough of a “sign” we are needed?
  
• Why do other therapists judge and label those who do become or even seek to become successful as “selling out to commercialism”?

Then I asked myself “am I selling out” and would I die for my work?

As the passion grew within me I realised I would still die for my job. I would face a death sentence if someone tried to stop me speaking my truth, which is that everyone in the personal development and natural therapy industry deserves massive success in whatever doses are right for them.

Would I break the law? When I thought about it – I already am. I have dedicated so much to have the freedom of my own business that some things have been left by the wayside, unattended. Not through conscious decision but from being so poor I couldn’t do anything but ignore my taxes and the mounting levels of debt and I had no choice but to trust the funds would eventually come to sort it out. I just kept going and still deal daily with the chaos I have banked up over the past seven years.

I know what it’s like to go to the edge and jump off and not fly. I know how it feels when you hit rock bottom with a crash. I work way more than I “should”. I’ve endured serial aloneness. I know the discomfort of overcoming my fears and my deepest demons. I know what it’s like to bomb in front of an audience and I’ve felt defeat more than once. But I realised I won’t stop until I’ve nailed this thing called a “dream” because like so many of you, it’s my soul purpose to help people positively.

I’m not telling you this to have you feel sorry for me, please celebrate with me because my work now gives me so much joy and fulfilment and the rewards I receive now far out weigh anything I have to “fix” now.

Why I tell you this is so you won’t give up if you are feeling like a looser if things aren’t working out like you thought they “should” or if others are making you feel less than adequate,

You have the divine right to build whatever is right for you, but it takes courage and strength and I wouldn’t have got this far without the support and love of my mentors and investment in my business knowledge.

I’m certainly not endorsing you doing anything stupid or risky but if you read the bio of your favourite author or seminar leader, they will have a story of hardship. They will have slept in cars, gone through relationship breakups; most have been bankrupt or close to death more than once. But they believed and they kept going because their desire to achieve became greater than their fear.

Like our DJ heroes, the people who achieve their dreams are the ones who over come their fear and just kept rolling the message out.

A successful business equates to freedom. At the end of the day I always give thanks for the blessing of freedom to live my life the way I choose. Would I die for the gift? YES!

Things for you to ponder?

1. How can we as an industry embrace the same rock and roll passion that kept the musicians on the Titanic playing as the boat sunk and create a common vision and a common goal?
   
2. Would you die for your current job?
   
3. If not, what would you need to do to create a job to die for?