I was speaking at James Wedmore’s BBD Live event for our charity, and I spent a lot of time watching, learning and observing. In this episode, I’m going to tell you all about the event, and share three big lessons I took away that all of us can apply to marketing.

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Big Ideas

What Makes You Different Is What Makes You Stronger [1:33]

The number one lesson from the event was to embrace your difference. So often we don’t want to be different and unique, we just want to appeal to everybody. James’s event is structured in a totally different and unique way. There isn’t necessarily a whole line-up of keynote speakers, instead it incorporates a whole bunch of peer teaching. The whole experience is built around the audience teaching and sharing what they know, and tapping into the collective wisdom of people who are attending. 

Don’t shy away from the thing that makes you unique. In fact, lean into it. And that’s exactly what James has done. At the end of the day, in marketing, we’re not trying to appeal to everybody. We’re looking to create that polar opposite feel so that those who do align with us are really drawn to us. Ask yourself, what makes you unique? Why are people drawn to you? Whatever that is, get clear on that and lean into it. 

Show Your Audience What’s Possible for Them to Achieve [4:25]

The second lesson that I took away from James Wedmore’s event was to show possibility. People need to believe that what they’re buying into is really possible. And in order for them to believe it, you need to show them that. James showed his story and how his transformation has been made possible throughout the years. He openly showed some of his first YouTube videos and pictures from back in the day, and it really made it obvious in terms of how far he has come in his business. Often we forget about the journey of how we got from where we were to where we are now. Because we’re always looking forward and seeing the gap between where we are and where we want to be. 

The whole message behind him showing this was reminding people to let go of old stories. We all have old stories that hold us back from making progress, but progress happens more when we learn to let go of old stories that aren’t serving us anymore. From a higher level strategy perspective, think of how powerful this becomes for people, when you’re helping them make progress in some area of their life. When you get them thinking about what is holding them back, and then showcase what’s possible if they let that stuff go. 

Empower Your Team’s Decision-Making [9:00]

Lesson number three is to empower your team. Every year, James and his team are stepping up and creating a better and better experience. And this time, he told me he has had the least amount of involvement with the event than ever before. It was all his team. James is growing a team and surrounding himself with A-level players, trusting that they’ll be able to come through, and empowering them to make decisions about the overall event experience. 

As entrepreneurs, letting go can be really difficult. Especially if you have a creative vision, and you want to see things done a certain way. I believe that we should all be involved in the vision part, but there are some points where you have to let go. I learned that a long time ago from Michael Hyatt who said, “Leadership is really about being involved in the first 10%, and the last 10%. The middle 80% is where your A-level team players take over.” And I could see it happening with James.

Memorable Quote

“Progress happens more when we learn to let go of old stories that aren’t serving us anymore.” – Stu McLaren

“Leadership is really about being involved in the first 10%, and the last 10%. The middle 80% is where your A-level team players take over.” – Michael Hyatt

Resources

Business by Design (BBD) Live by James Wedmore
MYB059 – The $50,000 Emails
MYB005 – James Wedmore and his $18,000 Email

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