Sally Z 0:00
I was selling those Clarity Calls or inviting people into those Clarity Calls at, you know, in registration emails. And I was almost booked up before the event even started.
Sarah Fejfar 0:10
Wow.
Sally Z 0:10
So it was a really great strategic event for my business, which I'm thrilled about because I enjoy doing it. And I'm I will do it again next fall, for sure.
Sarah Fejfar 0:25
Why would you wait that long?
Sally Z 0:28
That's a great question, Sarah.
Sarah Fejfar 0:30
I don't know how you just told me something was wildly successful. Why wouldn't you do it again? In three months?
Sally Z 0:38
Huh? Do people when do people get tired of it?
Sarah Fejfar 0:42
Sally, how many people that came to your event at just learned about you? What percentage of the 5%? So if 85% of the room is brand new, how would they be tired of you doing that event when it is the first time that they've heard of it? Yeah. And then the other 15% of the challenge for me, the other 15% of the room. They are probably in love with you and would like any chance to spend more time and it's probably right now not the right time, or the right time for their budget to invest in you but they know they want to. And so you're keeping them warm? Yes, I'd like I'd like to see you do this again in January.
Sally Z 1:41
Okay, all right. I'm thinking February. I'm gonna do February. I'm just gonna tell everybody, Robbie, we're new February.
Sarah Fejfar 1:48
How are entrepreneurs like us daring bravely to build a stage? Ditch the sweat pants and step up to the mic? How do we create our own transformative offense? So we can get our message out into the world in a bigger way. It's not only profitable, but it's actually something we can be proud of. That's the question and the answers are inside this podcast. My name is Sarah Fejfar. Welcome to greenroom Central. Today I brought into greenroom Central Studio Sally Z an award winning speaker and speaker coach at be moved. Her mission is to create talks that move audiences and the world after 20 plus years of honing her craft, Sally coaches big hearted entrepreneurs and changemakers to step on stage and speak their story in a way that moves audiences. She recently hosted her first half day virtual event called Story plus impact for entrepreneurs to get the inspiration, insight and practical training necessary to scale their speaking so they can have more impact authority and revenue. Sally, welcome to Green Room central studios say hello to linchpin nation,
Sally Z 3:06
hello linchpin Nation.
Sarah Fejfar 3:08
I'm so thrilled you're here. It's been a long time since we got to chat and I'm just thrilled to be hanging with a fellow minute Minnesotan this morning. Oh, yeah,
Sally Z 3:17
so You betcha. Okay.
Sarah Fejfar 3:21
It sounds like you just hosted your first half day virtual events. And I'm so excited to dig into all of the things about how that went and how you felt. But first, I want to I want to get a sense for what you think your superpower is when it comes to the event space.
Sally Z 3:41
Thank you for asking that. So I have the although this last event that I did that we're going to talk about, I was the first time I myself was hosting a half day event virtual event. But I have been on event teams and helped script events and help prep speakers and spoken at many, many events over the years. And so I love events, I think they're amazing. And if I were to answer what my superpower is, I have to say the first thing that jumped to mind is that I know how to move an audience. How to emotive ly connect with an audience from a creation perspective, like, what we create the words that we create the whole structure of the event how you build an experience for an a, an event and for an audience that serves them in an emotive ly satisfying satisfying way. Because that to me, that is why we do events versus send an email or even do a webinar like an event isn't experience and I love to think of it that way. And how do we serve up a really juicy, satisfying moving event? I think that's, that's my superpower. Oh,
Sarah Fejfar 5:03
that's so good. And I bet there's a lot of people like me who are listening right now who are thinking, Oh, Akash, I'm a little bit envious, that that is your superpower? Because that's, that's a skill that needs honing. And it's such a big one when it comes to the event experience. And yeah, I agree. That's what people come for people come to be moved. And it is not the name of your company to. Yeah, I, I agree. And so much of that is what is said from stage and how it said and the emotion and the emotion behind it, how it makes people feel. And that's amazing that you have that foundation to start on as you're going into your first event. And so you have tons of event experience, but it's different. It's not you like, like footing the bill. And it's not you like being in charge of like holding space on the stage for the whole time. So what was it like? What were your biggest learnings coming away from your very first like, this is my stage I built it event?
Sally Z 6:22
Yeah. So generally, I am so proud of what I was able to pull off. Yeah. But But technology is all it's a thorn in my side again, and again and again. And to be expected, because I was I opted for new, a new platform that I hadn't used before, I did a lot of new things. And for me, it was a really intentional shift towards let's take advantage of this opportunity. And play in some spaces. Technologically, I updated all of my equipment, I went and I, I took the opportunity to say, Okay, I want to just uplevel the experience for myself for the long run. And I knew that that could create some short term challenges, but I just owned that right up front in the event and said, Here we are gathered together. And I know that this is precious time for you. And as an entrepreneur, I'm always going to be pushing myself to the next place. And that's what we're doing here today. This is a new platform for me, we've got all kinds of beautiful, cool new things, it's not going to go perfectly. And that's okay. My goal here today is to not do this perfectly. My goal today is to create connection with you. And so despite what might go wrong, that's what my focus is today. And because that's my philosophy as a speaking coach, you know, I've coached people for 20 plus years in the speaking industry. So that is what I believe. But it offered me some great cover, ironically, because it was technologically very bumpy. So that is my biggest learning was, even as you know, I did a run through we did attack through we did all the things you're supposed to do. And it was still we still encounter things that I didn't expect or didn't know about. Because there's just some things you don't know until you're in the real time experience. So next time, I will know so much more. And ultimately, I think it was worth it. And I'm so glad I did it. But it was a lot of new.
Sarah Fejfar 8:42
Okay, so I'm hearing that you think tech is really scary. And then you decided to say I'm gonna go and get new equipment and a new platform for my first event. Like, let's just pile on all of the scary things. Go there. Let's
Sally Z 8:57
just go there, Sarah. Yeah. Hello, I'm Sally, nice to meet you. That's how I roll.
Sarah Fejfar 9:03
I'm not sure that I would recommend that. But I applaud you.
Sally Z 9:11
It's because I wasn't worried about the content. You know, I wasn't worried about my ability to deliver it. I those things are, like, easy for me. And I say that with a big asterisk. Of course, it takes focus and energy and commitment and preparation. But I trust myself completely in the delivery of what I'm doing. And so that opens up space for me to focus on this other area of new, which was all the tech. And so if you aren't feeling super confident about what you're saying or how you're saying it, I wouldn't. I would focus on that first. That's my totally my and as the event
Sarah Fejfar 9:54
creates, are you 100% agree? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I think there's so are many things that people pile on during events like you did with tech that distract them from what matters, which is the content. And I feel so sad when people don't get the content, right, because they were so worried about all of these other things that didn't have that. Like, we just didn't need to put ourselves there. You know, but so you didn't, you knew you didn't have to worry about the content. So you decided to go like, into this brave new world. So you got new equipment, what did you get?
Sally Z 10:34
Yeah, I've got a an actual full sized teleprompter, I was gonna stand where. So I set up like a new studio space in my office. But then I remembered we're not necessarily doing this on video. So I was like, well, we could just talk about it. And this is an easier, like, automatic jumping in Frisco. But I have a little corner studio that I created and set up for this where I have a teleprompter, I've got a nice camera.
Sarah Fejfar 11:06
You get a switcher, and by chance, one of those like little mini things.
Sally Z 11:13
An ATM mini thing. Well, I use ECAM live, okay. And so. And that works within lots of different platforms. So I was using Zoom events. And Ecamm live within zoom. So you can live as my switcher. Yeah. And it makes it really, really easy to go from full screen slide to me, you know, I'm sure you know,
Sarah Fejfar 11:42
I love that. I mean, just, it's, it's one of the coolest things it's come from the pandemic is the evolution of virtual and being able to switch up the view for our guests. Because I mean, if we're watching TV, how often are they changing it on us right? Multiple times in a second. It feels like it just it's constant. And that's for a reason. It's by design. And so we get to do that now too. And so an entire Mini or an E cam. Live allows us to switch that up, and it's easier to tell the people it's easier than it feels right. So
Sally Z 12:18
much easier. And so I have a little thing called oh, gosh, okay. Can you give me a minute while I run it? Yeah,
Sarah Fejfar 12:26
absolutely. Okay. Okay, so I'm gonna recap. So she got herself a little studio in her office, separate from her office space dedicated to going live and doing events. She got herself a teleprompter. She's using the switcher she got a dedicated high res camera. Did you also maybe do a monitor that is showing you the maybe like the Zoom gallery view?
Sally Z 12:56
Yeah, I had three. Well, the Zoom gallery view is in the teleprompter. Oh, wow. Okay, so so I could see all the people in my teleprompter. And then I had my slides and what they were all seeing, I wanted to make sure I knew what they were seeing. So I had that set up on three monitors that on one of the monitors.
Sarah Fejfar 13:21
Your tell us what you had on each monitors.
Sally Z 13:23
Yeah. So on the monitor to my right, I had my I had my slide deck, just exactly what the deck was on on the right, yeah. And then if I'm remembering this correctly, and then I had zoom in the teleprompter. And then I had on my the third monitor was my laptop. And that was over to my left. And, um, that I had that was like my working deck. So that's where I had my E cam. You know, buttons, and all of the things even though I was using stream deck, that was the cool tool I wanted to make sure. So anyway, so I had my monitor, which was kind of the main system that was running everything in the teleprompter. So that second monitor was the Zoom world. And then to the right was my slides.
Sarah Fejfar 14:25
That's awesome. And how did that feel? Did you Did it give you more confidence having those things to look at or did did something become a distraction?
Sally Z 14:37
Well, I was using, we're getting super technical, which which is great, but I was using my slides in Canva and I personally I love Canva I love Canva but there's a few little things in the using of Canvas as a presentation tool that is not quite working for me and I should just call them up because I talk about them all the time. I'm like, I'm sending so many people to Canva. So listen to me when I tell you this, it has this funny, stupid little thing, where when you put your cursor on it, it is, depending on where your cursor is on the monitor, it will send it forward or backward. And so I had to, I had to be really careful. So everyone saw it would click back instead of forward. And it certainly could be
Sarah Fejfar 15:32
a distraction. Absolutely.
Sally Z 15:34
Absolutely crazy. Yeah, the good news is because I was controlling what view people had, I could really easily with my stream deck, which is like a small little keypad, basically. And I can press a button, and it could change the view with a button. So I could make it show just me and then I could make it show just my slide. And then it could make it show my slide with me in the corner. Yeah. And then I had a button that would play my transition music and video. And so once you have that all set up, that just made everything easier. So I could just change the view to something else. Well, I got the slide set up, and then I would move to the slide. That could all have been easier. If I had had gotten my clicker working
Sarah Fejfar 16:28
like a wireless
Sally Z 16:30
things. Like slide clicker, you know, that you use when you're out speaking in the real world, because my computer was right there. I was like, I'm not going to need the clicker. But because I was managing I was producing it myself, as I was doing it in the moment, there was just a lot of things happening. And so it ended up it ended up being a little messier than I wanted. I don't think ultimately, it impacted people's.
Sarah Fejfar 17:00
I bet all of these things you're describing to me, it was what you were experiencing now, not your guests. And next time, it'll be that much. It'll feel that much smoother for you. And natural, because you've had this initial experience, and you've found the areas that you want to tweak and definitely really pushed yourself to try new things. I agree on that wireless clicker. It's, it's, it's amazing how much and you would know better than me how much of your brain is used when you're speaking in front of an audience and how you just want to remove any sort of distractions or friction. And a clicker is just so easy, right? It's forward. Yep, yeah, yep.
Sally Z 17:49
So I think it's a reminder to me, even as I'm talking about this with you, and, you know, this morning, as I was thinking about our conversation and reflecting on the event, just the level of resilience that we have to bring to the moment to, to not let that be the decision maker, about the experience that you're having with your audience, that that kind of stuff happens. And it truly an audience is willing to stick with you on it, they get it. In fact, they're just empathizing with you, as long as you yourself, don't get detracted from the real goal. And so you know, people expect some bumps and if you can ride those bumps without it, really paying a price in terms of the connection that you're having with people then then if anything, it might humanize you and help people feel more connected, like, oh, especially the world of speaking, we tend to put people on a pedestal and say, Okay, well, you're, you're doing something that I could never do. And the reality is, it's just like, No, I'm just a human, and my dog keeps scratching at the door, and my kids just got home. And you know, I mean, we're, especially in the virtual world, we are bringing our real full selves to the moment, and I want us to be able to do that. And we can still deliver a high quality, empathetic, connected moving piece of content for our people. So it's all it's the whole soup of it. It is
Sarah Fejfar 19:33
and I want to underline something you just said there about how we react our resilience in the moment when stuff like, you know, oh, shoot, I like wireless clickers not working on I have to go figure out what button it is on my laptop and I'm in the middle of a thought and I don't want to lose it. That our resilience in that moment or something even bigger going wrong is so important. And I've watched so many speakers and the one ones that I am just, I just think to myself, oh my gosh are so good are the ones where I know there's things that are not going right. And they aren't letting it ruffle their feathers. And they're able to talk about it in a way that doesn't throw anybody under the bus that doesn't make it look like it's like blowing it out of proportion. They're just like, oh, shoot, that was the wrong video that just played, hey, can you play the the other video, that's the one I wanted to play right now. You know, if they're talking to the back of the room or something, it just your ability to be grace under pressure and resilient. And yes, again, like a double underline, people want to see you like the real you. And the more vulnerable, like our vulnerability is a key to connecting with our guests. And it is okay, it is okay to be vulnerable and say, shoot, I walked up on stage without the clicker. I'm gonna like you just like hang out here and write three things you're excited about for our next hour together. When we're going to talk about accent, I'm gonna go get it and come back. Slowly.
Sally Z 21:27
Okay, can I use speaker coach for a moment on this? Because I think what you're talking about is so so important. So speaker coach, yes. Okay. All right. So the line is, when our audience when when we, we flip over to a worrying place on screwing up or missing something or something goes wrong, or it's like theater, like you have no idea what's going to happen, which is partly why people find it so terrifying. But why I think it's so thrilling, because we just never know. But what we're trying to attain and and maintain with our audience is a level of trust. And it doesn't mean that you can't screw up what it means is, they want to know that you still are captain of the ship. And I call it like, do you have the con, the con is this old, you know, sailing term about the control of the ship. So the person who has the con it has the wheel of the ship. And so if you if they start to worry, like who is running the ship, and what's going on, and when you sound like you don't have trust in the people who are running things or this or that, then they start to feel uneasy, and now they're pulled out of the experience and are analyzing it from above, instead of being in the experience with us. And so most importantly, we want to maintain that sense of trust and connection. And so if you screw up, or you walk out on stage, and you don't have the clicker, it's no worries, this happens. I'm gonna go grab it, I've got you. And you're still taking care of them in that moment. And you can be honest about what's going on because you're a real human and mistakes happen. Yes. And so that is the most important piece of it if they start to worry about you. So like when somebody takes their vulnerability to a level where you're like, This is to outside the norms and expectations for this context. Right now, they're not with you now. They're they're analyzing from above. And we want to keep them really, really focused down with us. And so, you know, that's, to me the thing to think about when you're like, Okay, I can't screw up that's not what it's about. Nothing can go wrong. That's not what it's about. In order for me to be vulnerable, I have to share all nope, that's not what it's about. It's truly about a true honest connection based in the reality of the moment that's happening right now. Not this taking your plan and sticking to it no matter what and you know, ignoring something that is really happening in the room. But how do we show up and let go all at the same time and that's that's where trust and connection come in?
Sarah Fejfar 24:25
Yeah, that makes sense. Absolutely. And linchpin nation I'd want you to like star the thing in your journal that where she said, the part about like that you're in charge of the room like that's your job, and that people get on easy if you if they sense that that you're who was like leading who was in charge here, what's happening. They just need to feel a sense of that you're in control. And that like Sally said, you've you've they've you've got them and that's so important and It's way easier to do than I think we give ourselves credit for. We're all capable of that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Sally Z 25:10
Yep. And that like, especially when you think of this from a team perspective, so when we're talking about this, I'm imagining it in person. But you know, usually when we're putting on an event, there's multiple people involved. So my assistant was in Slack, right, and she's helping, you know, we're not in the same location, but she's in zoom events, she's checking the chat, she's fixing this or fixing that she's in communication with me the whole time. And so, I know, like my job is to make to not like you said, not throw her under the bus if something goes wrong. And her job is to not, and vice versa, we take care of each other in this and you want to make each other look brilliant. So I can say, you know, if there was something going wrong, instead of Alison didn't do this, or didn't do that, or whatever else, which by the way that was, but I can say Allison's figuring it out, Allison's the hero of the day, you know, and that helps people know that we see what's happening, we're managing it. And we're being real about something that everybody knows and is aware of, in managing it, we've got you, we've got you, we've, we've created this safe place for grade four up and do your thing.
Sarah Fejfar 26:35
That's so good. After all of the stuff that went well, and didn't go, Well, what would you what would you boil up as something that you would do? differently next time.
Sally Z 26:53
I wouldn't wait until the week of to do my tech run through, I would do that. You know, 1014 days in advance. And do multiple of them. So when I was doing the stuff in person, we were doing so much more prepping and rehearsing, and we're in this space the day before, and we're, you know, putting the slides up, you know, hours before and running through everything. And when we are virtual, the pros and con of it is that anybody can do it. And anybody can do it. And, and we can slap something together and pull it off, really. But we still have to give ourselves time to, to figure out where the friction is going to be to use your word. I love that. I think that's exactly accurate. And the bumps. So I, I tend to especially people, entrepreneurs, we do so much virtual, and we can kind of wing it. And this is technology is one of those things that you really don't want to wing, you really want to give yourself lots of time and energy to mess up in advance as much as possible. So I did not give myself enough time and energy. So I was up late the night before trying to set all the monitors up. Exactly right. And sure, like that was like, you know, this is too stressful. Yeah, you
Sarah Fejfar 28:35
can't serve as your highest, you know, show up and serve as your highest and best self, if I say is if you're schlepping boxes in, you know, the day before in the morning of but, or staying up late and trying to figure out like, how to set up a monitor and make your clicker work and get the teleprompter going. Yeah, yeah. What would you say is something that you would definitely do again, like this was a home run for you?
Sally Z 29:05
Yeah. One of my guests joined us in person, which was really, really fun. So even though it was virtual, she happened to be local. And I was like, Come on, let's do this in person with me. And so that was a really fun little delight. And surprise, and for me, it was such a relief. I was like, Oh, I don't have to worry about any technology in this section. It's just two people having a conversation face to face, but I think brought a new and different energy and it's so great to be able to, you know, switch up the mode, not just like video panel, you know, Keynote interview, all the different ways that we can deliver our content but to really be in person together, find a really fun delight and that It was a favorite it was a hit.
Sarah Fejfar 30:02
So you you didn't speak the whole event, you had other guest speakers with you. Talk to me about that, and why you made that decision?
Sally Z 30:12
Well, promotionally it's wise, right. So you're just like, you know, we build our podcasts, because they're an incredible networking tools and sharing audiences and bringing their audience with them into our event and experience. It for hours is a long time for one person to be doing their thing. And especially virtually, I think, bringing in other voices is important. It I probably sold some extra tickets, you know, I am so pleased with how many people joined and how many people bought tickets. I, my goal is 500, which was a big goal. But you know, 400 people bought tickets that was so I know, I was really, really excited about that, because you just never know. And I've done plenty of webinars in my day that didn't meet the goals that I set out. Nearly that so this felt, it felt really good to do that. So I do think having those other voices in and some of them were more high profile than me. And so it was a great way to, I think elevate the not just the experience itself, but also the the way it looked, which matters when you're selling, you know, not to be too down and dirty about it. But how it looks is how you sell it. And then delivering is what happens in the moment. So
Sarah Fejfar 31:50
yeah, I'm talking about your 400. Ticket sales. So your guests, how did you fill that room?
Sally Z 32:05
Yeah, so I was in promo mode for it for a good six weeks on social and in my email, weekly emails and stuff. And then I started Facebook ads, probably two and a half weeks in advance. Okay, and those were really successful, they were really great. And honestly, I hadn't put a lot of stock into them. I've had such up and down response. Yeah, really inconsistent response from Facebook ads and Instagram, but but they worked really well. And because this was a lead generating the whole point of the event for me for my business, was not just to serve my audience and provide for them something really valuable. But it was also to invite people into sales conversations with me, and and so you know, I call them Clarity Calls. And they are, but they're also the introduction to how can I help you? Right? What's the next thing for you in your business? And I, I was selling those Clarity Calls or inviting people into those Clarity Calls at, you know, in registration emails, and I was almost booked up before the event even started. Wow. So it was a really great strategic event for my business, which I'm thrilled about, because I enjoyed doing it. And I'm, I will do it again next fall, for sure.
Sarah Fejfar 33:38
Why would you wait that long?
Unknown Speaker 33:41
That's a great question, Sarah.
Sarah Fejfar 33:44
Now, you just told me something was wildly successful. Why wouldn't you do it again? In three months?
Sally Z 33:50
Hmm, do people wait when do people get tired of it?
Sarah Fejfar 33:55
Sally, how many people that came to your event? And just learned about you?
Unknown Speaker 34:02
What percentage of the 5%?
Sarah Fejfar 34:05
So if 85% of the room is brand new? How would they be tired of you doing that event? When is the first time that they've heard of it? Yeah. And then the other 15% of the challenge for me, the other 15% of the room. They are probably in love with you. And we'd like any chance to spend more time and it's probably right now not the right time, or the right time for their budget to invest in you but they know they want to and so you're keeping them warm? Yes, I'd like Right. I'd like to see you do this again in January. Okay,
Sally Z 34:55
all right. I'm thinking February. I'm gonna do it. I'm just gonna tell everybody, Ruby. We're Excellent. I'm gonna do February, January, and it's like travel crazy. Was it profitable for you? Yeah, for sure, for sure. Oh, well, you know what I say this, because it's the, it's the beginning of the customer journey series. For me, it's absolutely profitable and worth it. So there's no, you know, spending a few $1,000 on Facebook ads is absolutely a worthwhile investment to me. I had, because I bought all new equipment was like, Well, this one. It was an expensive event for me and my business. But those costs don't carry over to the next one.
Sarah Fejfar 35:43
Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Well, I think I just, I love for people to keep doing what works. Right. And so you're saying that this worked? And let's just get better at doing what works instead of trying something new. Right?
Sally Z 35:58
Yeah. Yeah, I really liked I will say, I liked that it was a half day, not a full day, because a full day can feel like a big commitment. People even though you know, and it still is meaty, it's, it's more than a webinar still feels like, Okay, I'm going to take some time and space, I'm going to carve out some time, and I'm going to be here and be present. So the half day felt really good to me in that. And afterwards, I could shut everything down and go sit outside with Margarita. And that was great, too. You know, it's
Sarah Fejfar 36:32
such a it's a such a beautiful dynamic, where we can be serving so many people from all over the world. And then turn off the computer and go step outside, and we're back with our family and our real life. And get to know just be doing something we love, like drinking a margarita on the back porch. It's so weird. And amazing. Oh.
Sally Z 37:01
Yeah. As a as a speaker, coach, obviously, the pandemic blew up my business and many, many other people's. And I'm sure we're talking to many of you right now. The great thing about it is that in my book, it democratized the opportunities. Anybody can do this. You don't, you don't need the new equipment. And I know you and I totally agree on this era. You don't need all the fancy things. You don't have to wait to be invited. And as a speaker, coach, I'm saying stop waiting to be invited. And yeah, we want to do that too. But get out there now you can. The virtual stage is yours for the taking, you know, everyday on social media is a free virtual stage. Yeah, every time you put your podcast together, Sarah, you're on the virtual stage. And you can create a as big of a virtual stage for yourself as you want. Now, getting people there promoting it, you know, I'm making it sound really easy. But it is yours for the taking there. And I think before the pandemic, we thought of speaking as something that only happened on a stage and only for people who had lots of followers already had a book or successful book even and a not a self published book. And like we have all these caveats on what it takes to be a speaker. And my belief is anybody can do it. There's a learning curve, but nobody is born. Being an amazing speaker. You grow into it. You build yourself into it. And you can
Sarah Fejfar 38:44
I want to say last year, sorry. I want to circle back to something you said. Because you said it almost in passing. And I think it's kind of a big deal. You said you've tried Facebook ads in the past and they haven't really been successful for you but they were this time. And so I'm wondering if you're able to pinpoint yet. What was it?
Sally Z 39:09
I don't maybe I found a better Facebook ads personally.
Sarah Fejfar 39:13
Did you What did you know? What did your ads look like?
Sally Z 39:18
So I had a few video ads we a be tested a lot of different things. I had a few video ads and I had a few for static ads. Really surprising to me and the Facebook person my static ads did way better. Okay. Isn't that interesting? Especially because I'm like, Oh, I'm a speaker. And I'm, I like video and I'm I think I'm pretty engaging on Yeah, I don't know. I was like, nope, the static ads did better
Sarah Fejfar 39:45
and what was on your static ads? Did it say the event or event date?
Sally Z 39:54
It was a picture of me speaking and had the event name And I don't remember. I don't remember. You can tell I was just like, great.
Sarah Fejfar 40:11
Oh my gosh, if you have the details you let go right. But they matter what did you? Did your Facebook ads person make the ads for you? Or did you have your like crafty creative camera person? She did.
Sally Z 40:27
She did her that static ad based on some older ones I think I'd done. You know, it's it's interesting because when I think about my ads in the past, I have had an uncanny ability to launch around lots of as soon as something in the world really goes horribly wrong. The first time I launched my course and was doing webinars and playing with ads was June of 2020. And George Floyd had just been murdered, and I live in Minneapolis. And that was, it was a really, really hard time, understandably, and rightfully so. And then same thing. It'd be election time that fall, I was like, Okay, now I'm watching again. It's like that was a horrible mistake. Right? So and unfortunately, there's, it just feels like every few months, there's something really that turns the world on its access a little bit. But this one, it may have had something to do with why it worked a little bit betters,
Sarah Fejfar 41:45
but you also had to be resilient. We've all normalized we've normalized or normalized to the craziness going on. But I'm hearing resilience I'm hearing that you had and you didn't give up. Having tried them before and not been successful. And so what a blessing didn't work this time. It's exciting.
Sally Z 42:05
Sarah so much resilience. Yeah, this,
Sarah Fejfar 42:08
isn't it? I think,
Sally Z 42:11
I guess the margarita? Yeah,
Sarah Fejfar 42:13
I do think that it's, it's actually probably, you know, it's kind of like having a child, where everyone is so excited for you when you're pregnant. And there's so much stuff that they do not tell you. Yeah, and I think entrepreneurship is quite similar. And that, gosh, it requires way much way more resilience than you could ever imagine. I think we can all agree that and not only resilience, but yeah, just the ability to keep going is just uncanny. I'm just like, shocked every day. Oh, my gosh, I totally get why people give up.
Sally Z 42:53
Oh, yeah, absolutely. I just can't imagine doing that. You know, like, you can't see this. I know, but I have this little magnet, proceed as if success is inevitable. And that is my I'm just like, it's happening. It's happening. I don't get to decide exactly when, but it's happening. And that has been really helpful for me in all of this. It's part of the reason why I'm like, Well, yeah, I'm gonna take this opportunity and uplevel my camera, and, you know, move beyond my free teleprompter to the real one, and set up my space a little bit differently and get the lighting setup. Even better, and you know, just, it's so iterative. This business is constantly about, we show up, we make it a little bit better, and we learn. And then the next time, we just make it a little bit better. I know we learn. And I feel like that's really what we've been talking about
Sarah Fejfar 43:51
really, really has. The last thing I want to ask you about is just I want to clarify where this event fit in your ascension model. This is essentially like top of the funnel like bringing coldish warmish people into your world and serving them well. And your, your offer was simply a clarity call with you. Right? Yep. And that's it. There was you didn't pitch like a course group coaching. It was just like, let's let's hop on a call together.
Sally Z 44:26
I talked about them. And the one of two of the speakers of the three were clients of mine are speakers of mine that I've worked with. And so really naturally we talked about the programs. We talked about what they had learned from it, they showcased what we have done together beautifully just by being there and speaking. So there was a lot of great synergy happening in the event. That was very intentional on my part. And so I just wanted to soften the grid And what I've learned over the years is speaking and inviting somebody in to be your speaking coach is a really personal thing. And you, you want to have a conversation with that person before you jump in and do something with them. That's not totally true. But especially as I work with higher and higher ticket, people who are are growing significant business with their speaking, they, they want to have a conversation with you. And so I just shifted my model a little bit from, I'm going to pitch something and cross my fingers and hope that you all jump in right now on this, too. I know what you really want is to really get a sense of is this can this person be trusted with my stories? Can this is this person going to really guide me thoughtfully. And what I found is, as soon as I have a conversation with somebody, as soon as I sit down with them, they're much, much closer to the Yes, than just pitching cold from the stage. So I just, that was one of the big shifts that I've made in my business in the last six months, probably. And it's been really, really powerful, really helpful.
Sarah Fejfar 46:22
Well, that's really good advice. Thank you. Yeah. All right, Sally, before we go, I'm going to ask you a few rapid fire questions. I just want the very first thing that comes to your mind. Okay, what do you say to yourself backstage and onstage?
Sally Z 46:37
I'm so excited. I'm so excited. So this is gonna be great.
Sarah Fejfar 46:41
I love that I'm so excited to share your best tip fulfilling events. Is that the Facebook ads?
Sally Z 46:48
That's what worked really well for me this time. What is your favorite? Well, I would add to that I would add to that. Bringing in guests? Sure. Yeah.
Sarah Fejfar 47:00
What's your favorite moment at events at that event that you hosted?
Sally Z 47:06
I love the first 10 minutes, right that the first 10 minutes of just like meetings are so important. But I it's all adrenaline. It's all joy and excitement. And it does feel a little bit like it's running ahead of you, you know, like, just hang on to the reins, hang on to the reins a little bit. But I kind of love that energy. And that's, that's why people are there. So my like, just don't, you know, get everybody in there. You do not want to miss the first two minutes. Cuz we will. That's how you start. You set the tone. Yeah, it's a story based moment, typically. So I love the beginning.
Sarah Fejfar 47:52
What's the best thing about hosting your own events or building your own stage and not waiting for somebody else?
Sally Z 47:59
Yeah. That you feel like perhaps you are in charge of your life. In some of that, of course, is a complete illusion. But you know, to empower yourself. Like to recognize within yourself your own ability to create something to serve people and not wait for permission. Like that is a really powerful game changing shift in the way that you think and behave as an entrepreneur and leader. That No, you don't have to wait.
Sarah Fejfar 48:42
I couldn't agree more. What are you reading right now?
Sally Z 48:47
Oh my gosh. Well, two things I was just the other one is, so one of my speakers just launched one of her books, buildings firing doll building psychological fitness. Oh, I suppose people can't see this. Yeah. It's this really powerful, hefty book about really wellness at work, mental, mental health, wellness network and topic, which is obviously really, really timely and important. So just super proud of her on that, which is great. And then I was just reviewing I hadn't. I haven't touched base with this book in a few years. But Jane Atkinson's book, the wealthy speaker. I came back to this book and I was just reminded, I was just upstairs looking through it. As I'm working with my speakers. Sometimes I'm like, I just want to make sure I'm not missing anything and my strategy and my approach and then I'll be like, Okay, everyone else's. My approach is slightly different, but it's like, okay, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep. Yep. And I was reminded, reading Jane's book of, she helps me dream really, really big because Just like, you know, you're not just successful speaker, you're not just a profitable speaker, but you are a wealthy speaker like, and as a woman, I just I want to bring more female voices and leaders into that thinking in the speaking industry, because there's just not enough women out there kicking butt. So
Sarah Fejfar 50:20
good. Sally, what have you got going on right now that we should know about? And where can linchpin nation find you?
Sally Z 50:29
Nice. Okay. Well, the things I have some, I think, of course, really powerful programs for speakers and entrepreneurs, coaches, people who want to leverage the power of speaking to grow their revenue and their authority in their industry. And so let me know if you're curious about that. We can happen a clarity call, actually, we could do that. I would really love that. And if you're ready for that, you've just reached out to me on social or you could go to be moved.com, forward slash clarity. And it's a 10 minute call where I can help you get clear on what's next for you and your speaking based on the information we talked
Sarah Fejfar 51:17
about. Easy peasy. I love it. I'll put, I'll put your social handles in the show notes as well as the happening so people can find you, Kelly, thank you so much for being here today. And it's been so fun to catch up and hear about you're so
Sally Z 51:34
great. I mean, you're like the yin to my Yang. Thank goodness for your logistical planning brain that is not necessarily my string. But I love nerding out with you about events because we share that you share love for the events. It's
Sarah Fejfar 51:51
my passion. Yes. Thanks, Sally. Take care.
Unknown Speaker 51:55
Thank you, violence been nation.
Sarah Fejfar 51:58
Thank you for listening to the greenroom central podcast. If you love this episode today with Sally, then please take a screenshot on your phone and post it to Instagram. And be sure to tag at Phil Baker, and let me know why you liked it and what you'd like to hear or who you'd like to hear from in the future. That'll help me know what to create. Also, I know you got one solid gold nugget of advice on filling your events from Sally today bytes. If you'd like a few more 107 To be exact, then head over to filling events.com Right now I want to help you quickly master event marketing and film your events. Even if you've never done them before. I've scoured the online business world and found 107 of my favorite strategies working right now. To fill your virtual or your in person event. Create the event promotion plan you need from these easy to implement customizable strategies at filling events. Now, in case you're curious, this podcast is built on Kajabi. I'm loving how easy it is to get things set up and going but more so I'm thrilled that my entire business is run within one platform from my emails to my pages to My Courses and my podcasts do it's all under one roof. If you love simplicity and scalability as much as I do, then what I want you to do right now is to go to greenroom. central.com To get a free 14 day trial from Kajabi. I appreciate your commitment to leveling up in learning the mindset and the strategy of live events. Keep going, keep learning. If you want more, head over to greenroom central.com For show notes and all the links from today's episode.
