I spent most of April out of my comfort zone (I love being uncomfortable) doing my first ever speaking tour in beautiful Australia (Melbourne & Sydney) and then a week on vacation without internet connectivity. In total I gave 12 talks (at conferences, local events, workshops & office hours), during that time I connected with 94 people and had 4 big takeaways. 1 of which is life changing for me. I recored a short video of my key takeaways:
Shout out to Experiment Engine for the awesome t-shirt!
Key Takeaways:
- I was able to do my most of work in just 2-3 hours a day. Normally I spend 12-13 hours a day doing. CRAZY!!?!?!
- From 12 back to back speaking engagements my communication and presentation skills leveled up and I became quite comfortable talking in front of people. I even minimized using words such as, like, ummm, yah, you know, right.
- I absorbed some of the aussie culture and am making major changes to reduce time I spending working and only work on high impact work. To date I’ve counted the hours I’ve worked and professional achievements, I’m done with that. I’m counting the hours I spend with my family and doing the things I love.
- I love helping people. There’s something about problem solving with other people and a few weeks/months later seeing the improvements that brings me joy. It’s my way of putting a dent in the universe.
A few pictures from the trip:
Email optimization tips from @sujanpatel for @HubSpot #Sydney – awesome stuff thanks mate! pic.twitter.com/bYvo7j9Lqb
— Sam @HubSpot (@samshoolman) April 15, 2016
Hanging out with the awesome marketers and SEOs at @WMEaus pic.twitter.com/VqqWFW09vu
— Sujan Patel (@sujanpatel) April 11, 2016
Learning all things #contentmarketing with @sujanpatel at the @startupvic workshop. #startup #growth pic.twitter.com/6sXY1nHs1o
— Rohit Bhargava (@RohitBhargava7) April 11, 2016
@sujanpatel delivering #sales gold, helping the Aussies to write #killeremails! pic.twitter.com/b1rf6UT5vY
— Andy Farquharson (@Andy_farq) April 6, 2016
Had a blast on WarriorTV with folks at @freelancer pic.twitter.com/ikTAXl2cfw
— Sujan Patel (@sujanpatel) April 15, 2016
I build and grow SaaS companies.
“When it comes to marketing, Sujan is the best. I’ve never met someone with such creative tactics and deep domain knowledge not just in one channel, but in every flavor of marketing. From content, to scrappy guerrilla tactics, to PR, Sujan always blows my mind with what he comes up with.”
Looks like a home run couple of weeks. Noice!!
I can see how you setup some of these gigs by pitching to local people that might be interested. But is there any way for a sole biz owner to get a trip like this paid for by the companies you were speaking to (in you opinion)?
Ken,
Thanks! The best way to get a trip paid for is to speak at a large conference or event and organize the rest of your events around it. I’ve been working on building our personal brand so most of speaking gigs come people reaching out to me.
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Nice! Congrats on a successful tour!
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Cutting work hours down to three sounds amazing. I’m not sure how I could manage that, but I’d like to cut out all unnecessary busy work.
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It was really great to have you in the office and excellent to meet you, Sujan. I think the team really enjoyed having you in and we’re able to inform some of this year’s decisions with things we’ve learned along your journey.
From a personal point of view, the picture of you, me & Shanaka in our office is a definite highlight of your time in AU. I wish we’d had time to catch up for lunch or dinner & drinks. Perhaps next time!
ReplyMatt, It was great hanging out with you as well. We’ll have to do lunch/dinner the next time I’m in town 🙂
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Glad it went well for you. Those are life changing revelations my friend!
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Love the takeaways Sujan. Keep up the great work.
ReplyThanks Chris!
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Great post, keep posting such an informative and impressive post. Thank you for sharing such a wonderful post.
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