About the author: Addie Martin has been in New Orleans for the last ten years. She writes about ideas, subjects and projects that fascinate her and capture her interests. Visit her blog here and find out about her key takeaways from Entrepreneur Magazine’s Growth Conference below.
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On Wednesday I attended Entrepreneur Magazine’s 6th Annual Growth Conference. I must say, it was a pretty amazing time. I got to see three fantastic presentations – on marketing, sales and using social media to acquire customers. Plus I got to see Erik Wahl perform and speak. All in all, quite awesome. Best of all, it was a free conference, and definitely worth the time and effort it took to get there. Today I want to talk about my key takeaways, and how I’m going about applying them to my life, work, and writing.
The intersection of left and right brain thinking. More than one speaker at the conference talked about the marriage of right brain creativity and left brain logic and thinking. Both are equally important in the equation. Both have their place and are intertwined into the success of the other side. I love this concept. It dovetails nicely into a idea I’m working on for a website. Fairly top secret for now, not ready to unleash it on the world. The acknowledgment and wide-spread acceptance of marriage of left and right – the perennial polar opposites – is one of the ways forward into the future. It’s important that people be tapped into both brain spheres and be able to draw on what each provides. I am more excited than ever to be studying more about this concept and how I can put it into action.
How exactly will I help people? One part of my overall vision for my work involves helping people. But how? In order to be focused and on a path to success, I’ll need to figure out specifically how to do that in each case. In the branding session, Malcolm Schwarzenbach ofTrumpet Group talked about a branding bulls-eye of sorts. The most lofty and “pie in the sky” facet is the vision. It’s the raison d’être – the reason for being. Many people’s and brands’ visions involve helping people. For me, I am sure that any vision I’ll have for my brands will involve helping people in some way. What I realized at Growth Con is that I need to figure out and state specifically how I will help folks. It’s not enough to have a vision of “helping people.” How exactly will I put that to work? I’d love to really not even use the words “help people” in my actual vision statement, if it is possible. I’d like to try to go deeper and more specific, into a more emotional place beyond just “helping people.” I’m going to dig deeper and reach in there.
People only buy things to solve problems. Period. End of story. What problems am I solving? Sales = solving problems. The sales session was pretty eye-opening. Grant Cardone is a wild man whose got some pretty “out of the box” ways of thinking about sales. Of his ideas, the one that resonated most with me was that people only buy things to solve problems. That’s at the core of every purchase. This is something I’m going to keep in mind forever. It’s crucial to keep in mind when developing sales pages and pitches. Figure out a way to solve problems for people, and you’ll get the sale. Another add on to this is that the higher the quality of the product, the more price drops out of the equation. That’s another “Grant-ism.” I wasn’t necessarily going to include it here, but it really seems to fit in. It’s an easy reminder to only produce high quality products. Things that solve problems. It’s vital to provide people something to think about and facilitate them taking action in their own lives.
It’s the people you don’t know yet who have the money and connections you want. Money follows attention. These are more gems from Grant Cardone. He is 100% right. This is why it’s so important to keep meeting people. I actually met a couple of folks at the conference. I’m sometimes timid to talk to strangers, but I felt comfortable in this environment. One gentleman I met right after breakfast, Ron Nakamoto, is taking knowledge of personal finance to the next level to help shape and redefine the conversation around wealth in this country. I love that idea – it makes me start thinking about all kinds of stuff. Best of all, he’s looking for writers. I am hoping to make a connection with him to be able to do something there. See? Just from talking to someone – how amazing. Always talk to people you meet, especially those in the social settings where you’re looking to make connections – alumni happy hours, professional organization meetings or conferences like this one. I find it to always be worth it to step out of my comfort zone and into the wider world.
Creativity follows commitment. Yet another one from Grant Cardone. While a bit crass, he is smart as a whip. My biggest takeaway session of the day. He just had the most takeaways and actionable items there, by far. This phrase – creativity follows commitment – really got me thinking about how once I figure out what I want to do and commit to those tasks, goals, ways of thinking, that the creativity will follow. Once I commit to a path, things will become more clear, and I will be able to tap into more creative inspiration. I’m really stoked about this, for sure. I guess it’s hard to be creative when I’m just not sure what the path is. What my goals are. Or just what the hell I’m doing in general. Commitment to something is the key to it all. I’m finally learning that. I am actually finding things that I want to commit myself to in my work and it’s pretty amazing. In the end, clarity precedes commitment, and then creativity can follow. This is something I am SO on board with.
Get hungry for the gap between your reality and your full potential. Finally, the last bit of wisdom from Grant Cardone. The guy was just on fire. You could see it and feel it in everything he did. Right at the end of it all, he pointed out where the sweet stuff lies – it’s in that gap between where we are now and where the full potential lies. Frankly, if I see my “full potential” as the place I am destined to be and then the gap is really just the journey there. That gap is the place where good things happen. It’s where life is lived. The gap is the path to being where I want to be and doing what I want to do. The gap is the travelled path, essentially. It’s time to gear up, get ready, and get moving on the journey. I’m ready for the desire to realize my full potential to roar up in me. I feel like I am getting to that point. Because I am finally figuring out what it is that I want in life and how I am going about getting it. It’s really, finally, getting a little exciting.
To wrap, as I said, I had a great time at that conference. I have learned so much, and it really made me think about so many important things. I have clear thoughts and direction for some new things now and that’s getting me fired up. I am so happy that the concept of left and right brain thinking being intertwined is one that will keep resonating with folks for a long time to come. I’m tickled at the idea of tackling that topic. It’s going to be epic. The journey is starting. I can’t wait to see where it takes me. I like that I finally have plans and goals and a clear path for what I want in life. It’s rather amazing. For the first time, I see a path toward the future. And it is looking good. Hooray! 