Lights!
Camera!
…Type?
Sure as shootin’!
Scores of people have been asking us when we’re going to take our methods and perspectives to the blogshpere, and we’re happy to say that time is now.
One of the difficult things about being just three guys is that we can’t be everywhere at once, and we miss so many opportunities to visit with all the great and amazing people who participate in our events and workshops. Our hope this space can help remedy that.
This is our place to visit with you–to share our thoughts on our experiences as we grow in our SagePresence, film, and personal lives. And it’s a place where you can share back! Where we can have cool, group conversations about the people and ideas and things that inspire us.
Our plan is to post three times each week: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Each “Sage guy”, as we’ve come to be called, will take a day, so you’ll hear from each one of us at least once a week.
Also, on the sidebar, you’ll start to see a growing list of people, sites, blogs, and such that catch our eye, and we think you’ll probably enjoy, too.
To kick that off, allow us to introduce Lauri Flaquer, the personal branding genius behind Saltar Solutions. Not only did she honor us by introducing us at our most recent Be Connected event, she has been an integral part of developing SagePresence’s brand identity and marketing plan for the past two years.
When we met Lauri, it was just starting to dawn on us that there might just be something to this filmmakers teaching professional “stage presence” thing. People were encouraging us to take our method and philosophy to Corporate America, as they saw it was not only a perfect fit, but greatly needed. The trouble was, how do three guys–two of whom are juggling active movie careers–do that?
According to Lauri’s website, she works “side by side with you to help you achieve your vision of success.
We do this by guiding you through a series of innovative, insightful,
and thought provoking exercises that culminate in a solid brand,
develop a cost effective marketing strategy, and focus your attention
on your business. We identify exactly where you will best function and
build your business around that. We help you tap your inner source of
power and use it to fuel your business, balance your life, and achieve
your goals.”
And that’s exactly what she did for us! First off, she showed us how our movie careers and our “little presentation training business” were not only NOT in competition with each other, but how they were actually dependent on each other. That the model for success in both was to recognize that they were integral–that success in one would contribute to the success of the other. And that both worlds–the film industry and Corporate America–would view as with an even greater level of credibility because we discovered a innovative way to leverage our art, and a unique and powerful way to help professionals realize the full extent of their potential.
Once we got that, SagePresence was truly born. From there, as Lauri took us through her process, we began to see tons of opportunities to get the word out that we were simply blind to in the past. Further, we began to understand how we should be talking about ourselves and our business, and we started down the path of creating the visuals, language, and media that would solidify our brand in the public’s eyes.
It’ s more than paid off. In the past two years, SagePresence has more than tripled its bookings. We’re starting to speak on the national circuit, and we’re getting requests from top companies like Target, Prudential, and Symantec to train their folks. And the world is taking notice, as we’re also getting requests to take our training to places like India and China! We’re about to write our first book (keep an eye out for late ’08 or early ’09) and begin streaming parts of our training via video over the Internet.
Oh yeah…and our movie careers are taking off at the same time.
Not bad for a “little presentation training business”.
And a lot of it is due to Lauri’s expert consulting and advice.
We encourage you to check out her website. If you’re looking to capitalize on the business of “you”, Lauri’s your winning ticket.
That’s all for now. Keep checking back
Bill & Dean’s Excellent Adventure
Whew! Here we are in Seattle, WA.
And can we just say–the NWSG rocks!
They booked us in a place called the Hotel Sorento, aka our favorite hotel in the Universe. The service is nothing short of topnotch, the hotel itself is a thing or rare beauty, and when we checked in they asked us if we minded being upgraded to suites for no additional charge (ummm…let me think for a moment. YES!)
From there we had a great time of unexpected (and amazingly productive) networking as we sat down in the lounge to do some prep work for the upcoming INCARNATION reading in July. In true Be-Connected form, Dean and I suddenly found ourselves being the conduit to connecting a couple of gentlemen, one of whom had been trying to track down and meet the other for quite some time. And as it happened, the other had appeared at our table earlier and wanting to chat about movies (he, coincidentally, finances them). So here we are, trying to be of service. Trying to connect new folks in our growing network here in Seattle the even newer people that we meet. And it not only feels good and right, it feels productive. It feels like progress for us, too!
After a short nap, it was Networking: the Sequel as Dean, Robbye (my wife), and I attended an informal gathering for cocktails the NWSG folks held in our honor. There were about 20-25 people there, and the hardest part of the night was that everyone was all so nice and interesting, it was difficult to get to them all. How we made it work was by leveraging the “power of two”. We took the pressure off ourselves and realized that it wasn’t necessary for both of us to have an in-depth conversation with everyone in the room. Rather, we could divide and conquer, as it were. From there, we used our “appreciate your way in AND out of conversations” tools to make certain we had a chance to chat with as many folks as we possibly could, while leaving each person like the interaction with satisfying and “complete”.
And the results were great. Again, we found a ton of ways to help our new friends AND several potential opportunities to bring SagePresence to the Seattle area. Very cool.
This morning, a shower (finally!) and copious amounts of coffee at the Pike Place Market (Fish!) were required to bring us back to life. Here is a picture of Dean and me (courtesy of my talented wife, Robbye) just as we were beginning to stir.
We\’re truly looking forward to tomorrow’s and Saturday’s events, and we’ll keep you up-to-date on all things Sage in Seattle as it happens.