Whether through this weekly blog, one of the two weekly podcasts I participate in or standing in front of a group delivering an education session, I continually put myself out into the public eye for all to see (and judge) regularly. While I’ve never quite gotten used to the mixed emotions I have at sharing my candid thoughts or being authentically me, it’s been invaluable to me both personally and professionally to push aside my fear. One of the more difficult things I struggle with is defining success beyond simple numbers.
It’s easy to count how many downloads a podcast has, how many people engage with a blog post, or how many interested parties attend an education session – but do any of those alone define success? In my experience, it helps shape success but doesn’t define it – life just isn’t that black and white. For example, just because the Adam Carolla Podcast averages 1 million downloads for each daily episode doesn’t mean that 1 million people are listening, let alone engaging. Again, it’s an important chapter in an overall book.
As I write this blog, I’m less than 72 hours removed from the inaugural PromoMBA event held on September 16, 2019, in San Diego. For those of you not familiar, PromoMBA is a brand-new education event to serve the promotional products industry that resulted from a collaboration between PromoCorner and Promo Marketing. We signed our agreement in mid-June and had three months to handle the meeting space, food, registration, logistics, website creation, securing supplier sponsorships, products for the swag bag, driving ticket sales, content creation, marketing, social media, and ticket sales. Even though we just completed the event, looking at accomplishing that list in 12 weeks feel daunting.
When the day of the event arrived, I was anxious – which is my polite way of saying I was freaking out. I had so many thoughts running through my head:
- Would everything go smoothly?
- Would the sponsors feel they got a great return on their investment?
- Would all the people who said they would come actually show up?
- Would the content be meaningful and provide value?
- Would the food be good enough?
- Would the attendees feel that the event was a smart investment of their time?
I could go on and on, but my sense is you get the point. As the beginning of the conference approached, I audibly breathed a sigh of relief as people started to arrive. One of the speakers – Paul Kiewiet – could tell I was a bit unsettled and asked if I was okay. I told him I was just a bit anxious waiting for more attendees and his response was not only perfect, but provided me much needed clarity for the day.
He said, “Bill if we change one life today all of the hard work will be worth it.”
It was as if a halogen light bulb as bright at 1,000 suns went off in my head as I processed his comment. Suddenly, I felt at ease and empowered to deliver a great day of education. The day itself went off without a hitch and I believe that there was ample value provided to all involved. Then, as if to put an exclamation point on the day, two things happened:
- An attendee came up to me as I was packing up my laptop to express her gratitude – it was genuine and made me swell with pride. She went on to say she took over 25 pages of notes and felt that we nailed the content better than any other conference – in or out of the industry – she had ever attended.
- About 2 hours after the conference ended, I received an email from an attendee who had to leave a bit early for an important client meeting. As luck turned out, she had one of the products emblazoned with the PromoMBA logo on it with her and she showed it during the meeting. As I write this, the supplier who donated that product has an active quote that will more than double the cost of the sponsorship.
While the day itself – putting on a brand-new education conference – was fulfilling, those two people helped me truly define the success of the event. Despite strong attendance, success wasn’t about how many people showed up any more than it was about the food, the swag, or the location. Success was (and is) a factor of all of those things combined and are weighed differently. The biggest piece of the success pie was always what Paul said it would be: the lives we could positively impact, and I know we were able to accomplish that.
I would be remiss if I didn’t thank our sponsors and attendees. Thank you so much for believing in the concept of PromoMBA and your role in making it a reality. A huge thanks to Chip Danby, Mike Bloom, and Megan Sokolowski from Promo Marketing. They are wonderful people to work with and we wouldn’t have been able to pull this event off without them. I’d also like to express my sincere gratitude to my team at PromoCorner – especially Joel Moore, Kelsey Cunningham, and Laurie Moore. Their support and feedback before, during, and after the event have been invaluable. Last, and not least, it was an honor to share the stage with Paul Kiewiet and Kirby Hasseman. Both gave it everything they had and the conference was amazing because of it.
I will continue to authentically put myself out there because, frankly, that’s all I know how to do. Going forward, I will remember that defining success isn’t as black and white as I historically want it to be. Candidly, that’s my biggest takeaway from the first PromoMBA – and since I wrote “first,” that means there will be a second. Mark your calendars for Monday, March 9, 2020, for the next PromoMBA event in Nashville, TN. I hope to see you – and learn with you – there.
Bill is president of PromoCorner, a digital marketing, media, and advertising agency, and has over 19 years working in executive leadership positions at leading promotional products distributorships. A featured speaker at numerous industry events, a serial creator of content marketing, president of the Regional Association Council (RAC) board, and PromoKitchen chef, Bill has extensive experience coaching sales teams, creating successful marketing campaigns, and developing branding that resonates with a target audience. He can be reached at bill@promocorner.com.