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I was asked recently, “How did you do it?  How did you just decide to quit smoking?  Quit drinking?  Quit eating meat?”

I know there are a lot of answers I could give to those three questions, but the underlying truth to all of them is simply this:  I made a decision to live.  This simple inner declaration helped me overcome many fears and obstacles, and continues to help me through each day.  Because if I’m not saying “yes” to life, then I’m basically going the other direction.

Some may say this is an oversimplification, and it is.  I can make this declaration, however, because I was in the other place for a period in my life.  I saw the depths of despair, loss and failure.  I made their acquaintance and hung around with them for several years.  It wasn’t until I was there that I had the courage to look up and say “yes” to living.  Now, whatever I do in my life has purpose and meaning.

Not all of us need to plummet to despair to find our true purpose. Unfortunately, I discovered this in my early 40’s. Some may find this out sooner. Others may use those of us who have seen the depths as examples. That is the beauty of it. As human beings we get the chance to create our existence every day, with every thought. Some people I know struggle with overeating, and they have asked me to “tell them the secret.” Well, it is just that. Make your choices as you go, little by little, one thought at a time.

Being a self-employed person, one who works mostly alone, can be challenging.  Especially when it comes to getting praise.  It’s not going to come from your boss because you don’t have one!  It’s not going to come from co-workers for the same reason!  So, when a client praises you and your work…you can really take it to the bank.

Recently, I had the privilege of working with Jeff Blackman, a ‘Platinum” speaker from Chicago.  He had several keynotes to deliver in the Houston area over the course of a month, and he hired me to tape them.  I jumped at the chance!  Jeff is the kind of speaker that us videographers are dying to work with: he’s nationally known, he works with top companies and organizations, and he’s charming and dynamic.

About a month after our work together, Jeff sent me this email:

Life is good when you pay it forward.  Thank you, Jeff!

All the most influential people in my life thus far (excluding my father and a man named John Dellarocco) have been women. Shari Sklar Jacobson was the first person to hire me out of film school in Boston to work as a video producer at Lyons Group Management for a club called Metro, back in 1986. We have remained friends to this day. A woman named Donna Wong hired me to edit the magazine for the Boston Film/Video Foundation around the same time. My boss at Arnold Worldwide, Lenora Cushing, saw something in me I could not even see myself. Not only that, but she had my back during one the darkest periods of my life. Lenora was the first person who saw in me the entrepreneurial spirit.

This realization about women has struck me during a period in my life where I am experiencing huge personal growth. Today, I am touched by the amazing gifts I have received from of a group of three women who help keep me grounded:

• Karen McCullough, my mentor and office mate, has taught me the invaluable lessons of perseverance, reinvention and self reliance. In addition to that, she has kept me on an even course with her incredible and endless energy.
• My friend and colleague, Tracey Rubio, has shown a collaborative spirit and generosity to me by offering me the use of her photo studio and all of her equipment, as well as her expertise in the field of photography and her incredible gift for exhaustive research.
• Sharon Ferranti has trusted me enough to take a risk and let me in to her world of film making. Sharon is a genius in a field that hypnotizes me. I love film making, and Sharon has shown me that I can do this for a living. She has shared with me her experience and her knowledge with such generosity that I almost feel unworthy of such an honor.

The sweet realization of the influence of these women in my life comes at a most opportune time: the release of a book that explores the talents of women from two cross-generational viewpoints. The Seven Women Project by Karen and Meredith McCullough beautifully illustrates and explains the unique and varied perspectives of the seven different “personalities” that are a part of every woman, and how women have the ability to tap into these different talents throughout their lives. I was lucky enough to help with the design of this book, and I can honestly say that it is a work of truth.
I say “thank you” to the many women in my life.

What if you decided to write your own philosophy and give it a visual rendering? This was the challenge put to me by Karen Davis of Karen Davis Design in Houston. Karen actually directed me to a video she liked on YouTube about one of her contemporaries, Eric Cohler. I watched his promotional video and became inspired. I could create something very similar. My mind started going into creative overdrive as soon as this idea became tangible. Watch the video I created for Karen, and then watch the video that inspired me.

This past week, Tiger Woods made a public statement about how he compromised his core values. It made me think about my core values…I know I live by some, but I hadn’t defined them in quite a while. What are your core values, and do you live by them?

Reflecting back over my year has reminded me of something I learned in one of my own workshops. What’s the “One Thing” that makes you different?

Recently, my colleague Karen McCullough and I gave a workshop on how to market yourself as a public speaker.  It was a day of giving away all the things that worked for Karen in her career as a public speaker, some of which I helped her with, and all the things that did not. The workshop ended up being very interactive, with most of the participants adding extremely valuable information and experiences to the mix.

One of the most notable people there was Julie Haralson, the Marketing Director at Texas Children’s Hospital and a marketing consultant.  She shared a piece of information that has helped me immensely in the area of Personal Branding.  It was the concept of “The One Thing”.   Julie posed that very question to us, and it really clarified the crux of personal branding.  In a world where we’re all trying to stand out and be noticed, very few of us can easily identify that One Thing that defines us.  Julie reminded us of the movie City Slickers and this important scene where Curly learns about the secret to success and happiness.

Take a moment to think about that one thing that makes you different?  It’s not an easy question to answer.  I’m still working on it.

This time of year always elicits from me an attitude of reflection.  Today I am thinking about some of the things I’ve learned about my business, in my role as an entrepreneur, and some of the changes I’d like to make in my work and career.

One of the most important things I’ve gleaned recently is my desire to move towards better clients.  It’s a terribly difficult decision to make to turn down work, or to sever a client relationship that isn’t working, but sometimes it’s the smartest thing to do.  I couldn’t understand this during the first few years of building my business.  I took whatever work came my way.  Some of these clients were struggling themselves, and couldn’t pay the fees I was asking.  So I reduced my fees.  Some of them just pushed me around and didn’t pay me on time…and I let them.

This attitude toward my business and my own value defined the level of work I did for the first stage of my career as an entrepreneur.  I’m calling it a “stage” because I’m ready to move out of it.  By thinking of it as “old” or in the past, I am also signaling to myself to move on.

But then a mentor of mine told me to imagine my life with a better echelon of clientele.  It wasn’t until I saw the damage that was being done to my self-worth that I understood what she meant. I started to value myself more, and visualize a customer that values my talent an is willing to pay for it.  It’s been an uncomfortable thing to do, because I have had to look at the opportunities that will arise instead of the ones I am declining.  This, I was told, is called growth.  But I have faith and I’m taking action to support that faith.  This is called “inspired action”.

“The Law of Attraction formula (and the correct formula in my opinion) is “be/do/have.” In this way, you get to start with Being. Be happy. Be joyful. Be loving. Be appreciative. All of this “being” is what makes you an energetic vibrational match to what you want. Concentrate on who you want to be, then Do what you’re inspired to do (and don’t worry about this part, the inspiration will come as you focus on simply being) and you will Have all that you desire.”

Ruth Hegarty

I’ve recently had the opportunity to help Karen McCullough with her book endeavor. She and her daughter Meredith have honored me with the privilege of creating the design and layout of “The Seven Women Project”. You may recall from one of my previous posts that I have been hard at work on the cover design. (Unfortunately, my blog posts pre-August 2009 have all disappeared due to a clerical error by my web hosting company so they aren’t available to see at this time). Both efforts, the cover and the layout/typesetting, have been an incredible learning experience for me. My hours at Rice University Glasscock School of Continuing Studies have paid off!

Most experiences, positive or negative, allow us the chance to learn and grow. What I’ve realized through this is another outlet for my creative energy, and also that I have the capacity to offer a new area of expertise to speakers and authors.

As a speaker, to have a book under you belt can be one of the most effective marketing tools in your arsenal. Just ask some of my colleagues (Donna Fisher, Jim Bob Solsbery) and they’ll tell you to “get published”. First of all, your credibility goes up about 1000 percent. Secondly, it can be a great source of income or another way to leverage your fee.

My advice would be to start. Develop your area of expertise. Nothing will make you an expert faster than writing a book. Take some tips from one of my favorite folks, Seth Godin. He has a blog post that might help you. This one is just about me bragging.

Public speakers are always improving on their product. In fact, they are the product! Everything they read, learn, experience and do contributes to product development. So, already they are very much themselves like a Mac computer, always getting better.

This thought provoked me to think about how public speakers can borrow a few lessons from the Apple school of marketing. I just read how one of Apple’s former corporate marketing geniuses, Steve Chazin, has come out with a blog and a brief history of the company’s brilliant marketing strategies. He recounts the ways that the marketing team rescued Apple from a slump and made it one of the hottest brands on Earth. Let’s see how they might apply to a speaker (or even a small business).

1. Appeal to their emotions.
2. Figure out what it is that you do better than the competition, and do more of that.
3. Your customers need to be your evangelists.
4. Keep your “story” short and sweet.
5. Create an amazing and unique customer experience (think Apple stores and Apple packaging).

Just thinking about these 5 principles (and there are many others) as they pertain to you, the speaker, can improve your marketing strategy. In what ways are you following these guidelines? Go to Mr. Chazin’s blog to get more in depth marketing ideas: http://www.marketingapple.com/

November is a great time to have a speaker’s workshop. Why? Because December is “down time”, and that’s the best time to work on your stuff… so you can hit the ground running in January.

My favorite speaker (and client) Karen McCullough is ready to share her story so that it can help you. It all started at the end of 2006 when she was encouraged to make changes in how she presented and how she did business. Karen took a leap of faith (with my help and guidance), and the doors of opportunity began to open for her. The direct result of these changes were booked engagements with top national organizations.

Everything has changed since 2007: It’s not just Speaking as Usual.

Karen and I are in the process of creating the Speaker Success Workshop: A New Way of Thinking and Doing. The goal of this workshop is to transform the way you think and do business. Recently I heard a speaker say that everything we did before 2007 is old. We are in the midst of huge changes and challenges (Seth Godin calls this period in time a ‘mammoth revolution’), and if you are thinking and marketing the same way you did a 2 years ago, you’re spinning your wheels. We are offering this one day workshop on November 11 and 21 in Houston, Texas. If you are interested in more information just email me: mikesvat@mac.com

You will learn:

* The New Markets (Where the new $$$ is. It’ll surprise you.)
* What the New Markets are Looking for
* Who’s Buying the Speaker? The NEW Savvy Buyer
* New Marketing Techniques You Should be Using Now
* How to Write Your NEW Copy
* NEW: One-Pagers that Work Today. Snail mail is back! Step-by-Step with a Workbook
* NEW: Techniques in Using PowerPoint that get Audiences Engaged and Excited
* How to Stay Current. Who to Read, What to Watch, What to Listen to
* Why Twitter is Important- How Bureaus are Using it
* Today’s Content Presented in a NEW Way: The Teds Changed the Way we Listen- 20/20

Plus:

* A 28-day template for your new marketing plan that you will use to get you booked in 2010
* A resource book filled with templates for one-pagers, testimonials, letters of agreement, pre-program questionnaire, proposals, and more.