How to Add 6 figures to Your Business with Events with Dannella Burnett

Kathi: Hi everyone, this is Kathi, as you know, and I am back and I am with Dannella, and we are going to talk about speaking, making money, having fun and all that good stuff. So, welcome Dannella, thanks for being on the show.

Dannella: Thank you so much, Kathi, for having me here today. So excited to talk with your audience.

Kathi: Absolutely. So, give us a little bit of background. Have you always been a speaker? Have you grown up speaking and chatting since you were three, or how's that go?

Dannella: Well, definitely chatting since I was three. My family and my husband can attest to that, but speaking is different than talking, and we'll talk a little bit about that today. My entry to the stage: I didn't start off wanting to be on the stage. Actually, I started as an event producer, very much behind the scenes. Came up through culinary arts. I found Julia Child when I was nine, told my parents I wanted to be the next Julia Child, and they patted me on the head and said, "Okay." But restaurants, catering and event planning. Many personal events. I've been doing event production for the last 30 years. Personal events led to nonprofits, to corporate, to municipalities. So, I've produced events from 25 people to 250,000 people. But then things changed. In 2006, I attended my own first personal development event, and it was like, "This is everything. It's hospitable, it's dramatic, it's theatrical, it's transformational, it's organizational, it's emotional, it's mental." I really do think that the events that we do in the expert and entrepreneur space are just such a beautiful mix of everything, which goes back to that nine-year-old who loved how you could have all different ingredients and put them together and create something that's really new and really unique. And so since that time we really moved our business towards working with experts and those in the advice or information or transformational space.

Dannella: By 2017, though, I knew it was going to be time for me to step onto the stage. And so I did get some speaking coaching. I worked with a coach, because I knew it wasn't just about talking. I have a saying that speaking without a strategy is just talk, and talk is cheap. You really do want to understand the speaking and the event. What are those opportunities like? What are they like for your audience? What are they like for you? How can you grow your business in that way, so that you can maximize the opportunities that you get to share and leverage your time by talking with more than one-on-one? You're talking with a whole group of individuals in front of you. So that's how things changed for me, and I stepped up onto the stage in 2017.

Speaking without a strategy is just talk, and talk is cheap.

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Dannella: And we were matching speakers to events, still predominantly working with the event host, but by 2019 we had speakers coming back saying, "That was great. Can I have another?" And really making those opportunities for speakers really valuable for them. So we launched Speakers Need to Speak in 2019, and now we serve both sides of speaking and events. You can use speaking to grow your business, to fill your events, to find your next clients, collaborators. And then many of our speakers become event hosts, which is really just maximizing your own stage. So it's been really exciting, and it goes without saying we went through a few changes in 2020. And we've continued to grow and flourish, and help entrepreneurs and experts grow their business.

Kathi: That's fantastic. What a great story. So, talk to me about that event in 2017 that made you say, "Okay, I'm going to speak now. I'm doing it."

Dannella: Well, I'd been having that urge prior to that event. I pretty much grew my own business through networking and referrals. And we did a great job at what we do, but the challenge with referrals, if that's your primary source of new business, is you're really counting on someone else to make that connection, make that referral, right time, right place. And the same thing with networking: that you've gone to the right networking event, you've developed those relationships. Great ways to grow your business, but not always the most predictable. And so, when you're looking at stepping up to that next level, it's hard to go, "Well, what's going to happen in 3 months or 6 months?" You're not the one driving that growth. You're really looking for other people to do it. And we were working with event hosts, helping experts and entrepreneurs have their own event, generate six to seven figures within a weekend selling their high-ticket programs. And I went, "You know what? It's time for me to step out from behind the scenes supporting these events and step onto the stage myself." Because when you step onto the stage, you can take control of your marketing, you can take control of your growth, and you can ramp it up by getting on more stages or getting more clear on who you're speaking in front of. Or if you're in production, you can step back.

Dannella: So, I knew I needed to. I was a little bit nervous. I actually went to Suzanne Evans' event called Take the Stage in November of 2017.

Kathi: Yep, love Suzanne.

Dannella: And I went because Suzanne does such an amazing job running events, and I hadn't been to one of her events for a couple of years. And she was talking about taking the stage and really taking control of your business, and I went into that weekend, and she and I have laughed about it since then, with no intention of entering her program. I was on reconnaissance that weekend. But sure enough, what she offered just made sense. So I did my speaking coaching with her over the next year, and I haven't stepped off the stage since.

Kathi: That's fantastic. What was your first topic about? What was your topic on that first talk? This is what I want to know.

Dannella: So the theme of my talk really hasn't changed, but I did have to make a few adaptations come March of 2020. Because what I spoke about was the need as a business owner to have personal connection in your business, in your marketing. Digital connection, email, text, social media, is certainly room for growth and ways to get in front of new people, but I believed then and I do believe now that there is power in proximity. When you and I are in the same space together, there's not only a connection. You and I have a connection right now on Zoom, and on social media we can engage, but there is a different level of connection when we're in the same space, physically, emotionally, connectivity. So I talked on being in proximity and the power of that. And as a business owner, you should have attending the right events, speaking at, being a sponsor or a vendor, exhibitor, or even hosting your own events as part of your business strategy, to really make those connections and those relationships deeper and more meaningful. Because it's not really know, like and trust for people to do business with you. It really is know, love and trust. And when you can take people to that know, love and trust factor, they become the raving fans that not only do business with you, but refer you. They become your cheerleaders out there. And I think being in person has a great impact on that.

Dannella: Well, then COVID happened. Ta-da! I still feel the same way, but I think what we saw happen was we found the ways to create that engagement and connection in the virtual space. Because this is not what Zoom was before March of 2020.

Kathi: Isn't that the truth?

Dannella: Right. So, I still feel the same, but it is about making those connections and those relationships and having engagement when you're a speaker, when you're an event host, and making sure that you're doing that on a systematic and consistent basis. Because one of the reasons we started Speakers Need to Speak is I don't think anybody disagrees with speaking as a great way to grow your business. People go to speaking coaching, business coaches who say, "Get out there." But then a lot of speakers go home to their home office or back to work, and they don't know when or how to get those speaking opportunities. Or what we found is they would look at an empty calendar and go, "Oh, now I need to do the work and reach out and find events on social media." And even using our method of using Google and finding opportunities, filling a calendar, but then stopping doing that work once those events start and they start working with clients, the ongoing getting yourself on stages and keeping your calendar full often goes by the wayside. And I call that the roller coaster method of filling your calendar, where you're like, "Work, work, work." Coasting. But a roller coaster brings you back to exactly where you started. And I think every entrepreneur goes through the same thing, even if it's not speaking, if it's just looking for clients, getting in clients. "Now I'm too busy to do anything." And then, "Oh, I don't have anything to do. Now I better market, market, market."

Kathi: Exactly. It's a total roller coaster.

Dannella: So, I think filling your calendar needs to be more like a train. And that's why we started Speakers Need to Speak. So, me and my team would do the work cultivating incredibly hot, curated, confirmed speaking leads every month. So you, as a business owner, an entrepreneur, can look right at them and go, "Where should I be? What application should I fill out? Which event producers should I connect with?" So that it's easier and faster to do that on a regular and systematic basis. Because if you do that monthly, then you'll look ahead at your calendar and you'll see two to six speaking opportunities every month, which I think is the right amount for most anybody here in your audience, or an entrepreneur that's looking to grow. Two to six speaking opportunities a month is a great place to be if you're doing that consistently.

Filling your calendar needs to be more like a train.

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Kathi: You mean actually speaking two to six times a month? Not just finding the opportunities, right?

Dannella: Yeah, speaking two to six times a month. And speaking could be a podcast. It could be a radio show. It could be television. We didn't used to consider those really speaking opportunities pre-COVID, but now we do. Now we know they're an opportunity to generate leads, to get in front of new audiences. So, when I say two to six speaking opportunities, it's all those opportunities that you have to get in front of new audiences, share a little bit about yourself, and either invite them into a conversation, share resources, share gifts that give them a little bit of a taste of you, bring them into your email list, and continue to share who and what you're about. Invite them to your events, invite them into conversation, or in some cases sell directly from the stage into your programs, products and services, or there are occasions where you might be getting paid to provide that information. All of those are great pathways towards growing your business.

Kathi: I love it. So, let's switch topics just a minute. You're an event organizer, right? An event planner. So, I have to ask you, what's your favorite organizing hack as an entrepreneur? Not necessarily as an event planner, but what do you use to keep yourself together?

Dannella: So, one of the ways to keep yourself really organized for the event is to make sure you have the right support. When you are the speaker, the event host, you need to be present on the stage. So, whether it's your own team or you hire a team like us, make sure that you've got a good run of show, and that's your schedule, that's your production through the event, whether it's just a couple-of-hour event or a 3-day event. We take our clients through a six-step process. And actually, if I could just share the names of the six steps, I think that'll give a little bit of organization to your audience, who we know loves organization.

Kathi: That's right.

Dannella: So, these are the six steps. If you think about these six steps and you do them in this order as you're thinking about your event, you will surpass any other planning template or checklist. This is the order that you want to put your event together in.

Dannella: Step one: the end in mind. If you don't know where you're going, it's nearly impossible to get there. So, the end in mind for you, for your audience, for your fellow speakers or participants or sponsors. The end in mind.

Dannella: Two: it's got to make dollars and cents. Your event needs to have its own budget. You've got to know what you're spending, what your revenue possibilities are. You want to know how many people you're planning for and what is your map for getting that audience there. That planning all needs to be done before you share that event with anybody, and I promise you, doing this hard work in the planning to begin with will make the rest so much easier.

Dannella: Three is logical logistics, which is really just bringing that budget to life. It's getting your vendors, getting your contracts in place, getting your outside speakers, getting your marketing ready to go, ready to share. It's getting your registration and your digital assets, your funnels and things like that ready to go. So, logical logistics is three.

Dannella: Four: marketing, not mayhem. Now you know who you're marketing to, where you're going to be sharing your event. There are 17 different ways that you might fill your event. You're not going to do all of them, but you need to know which ways you're going to market and how you're going to track that, so you can see what's working, what's not working, what you should do more of, so that there are no surprises about how many people are coming to your event, whether it's virtual or in person. Important information to know.

Dannella: Number five: execute with excellence. Make sure you can be the event host. And again, it could be your own team, it could be a team that you bring in to support you. Make sure that all of the elements to take care of your attendees, checking people in, helping people get into the Facebook group, watching your email, watching your texts, you have people that are supporting you so you can be fully present with your audience, especially if you're selling at that event. If you're looking for conversions, you've got to be present with your audience, or you're not going to get that connection that leads to conversions.

Dannella: And then six: the debrief, while things are fresh in your mind. You want to have a meeting with your team. You want to go back to that budget, make any changes to it. You want to go back through those six steps and take a look at what needs a little change before you do it again. What do you do again? It was perfect. What do you do over? It needs some tweaks. And what do you do never? It looked good on paper, but we're not going to do that again. You want to do that while it's fresh in your mind, so that your next event gets better, it gets more streamlined, it gets more efficient, more economical, and you get better results.

Kathi: And you probably recommend doing that the night that it ends or the next morning at the latest, correct?

Dannella: Exactly. You're going to want to do one very quickly. That's the brain dump. And then you might do another one. With our clients, we do another one two weeks after the event, because that's when you really have some of your invoices. Especially if you're in person, your final hotel bill. You might need to do that other one a week or two later just to make sure you've got everything documented.

Kathi: Right.

Dannella: And so when you do your next event, you know that you've got accurate information.

Kathi: Perfect. Okay, so talk to me about one of your favorite events that you put on. Give me a story about something that happened where maybe things went completely crazy, and then how did you correct? How did you adjust?

Dannella: So, my favorite event is our visibility event. We do these twice a year. We offer our Speakers Need to Speak services, and throughout the event we show off some of our speaker clients that also serve speakers. We go through lead magnets and how to use speaking leads, why to get on stages, a lot of the information that you need to be a speaker today. Myself and other experts, we do masterminds throughout the event, but we also run a speaking competition throughout the event. So, it's a lot of fun, it's a lot of engagement. At our last one, this past November, we had a hundred thousand dollars in cash, gigs and prizes for our top winners. We'll be doing that again in April. So, that's my favorite event, because we get to have a lot of fun. We really impact a lot of new and seasoned speakers on how they can be better, how they can grow their business even more efficiently and effectively, and really impact more people from the stage.

Dannella: And as far as things going awry, sometimes as experts we're like the cobbler's children who have no shoes.

Kathi: Right.

Dannella: Sometimes we don't do all the steps for ourselves that we do for our clients. So, on day two, and this was not the last event, this was the one two events ago, we were introducing a new program and we were making some changes. I'd actually met with my coach just a couple of days before the event, and we'd really made some changes in what we were going to deliver in our new program. And it was exciting and it was wonderful, but I needed to make some changes to my PowerPoint, and my team needed to make some changes to the sales page, and of course those things needed to work together. Well, we're busy getting ready for the event, and we're doing and we're doing. So, day two, literally hours before I'm sharing this information, while other people are speaking, 2 minutes here, 2 minutes there, I'm putting finishing touches on, my team is putting finishing touches on. We get it done with about 10 minutes to spare, because we had a speaker not show up. We had a speaker who had an emergency. So, I thought I was going to have about 45 uninterrupted minutes, that I was going to have a speaker on the stage speaking and I could focus on just making sure everything was in order and I was ready to share myself. Well, Shazam, you're on stage. They had an emergency, totally could not be avoided. So, obviously the show must go on, so I jumped in. I had two bits of content that had not made the final list that I knew would be valuable; we just didn't have time for everything. And so, I asked our audience, "Would you guys like to learn this or learn this right now?" And they chose, and I taught another segment in that 45 minutes. We go on break. We roll forward. Well, three or four of my slides were completely out of order.

Kathi: Mhm.

Dannella: So, as I'm sharing our new offer, it's just not making sense. I'm doing my best to make it make sense.

Kathi: Yeah.

Dannella: But when you're selling from the stage, it's really important that there's clarity for your audience. People are not going to buy if they don't know what you're asking them to buy. So, I muddled through it, but I knew, "Ooh, this was certainly not the best." And it showed. At the end of that session, there weren't a whole lot of people who clicked that buy button, because they didn't know what they were buying. Well, fortunately, a 3-day event does allow you a little bit of grace there, because typically on morning three of a 3-day event, you repeat the offer. You make sure that if there was any confusion, you bring clarity. If there were questions that were asked of your team, you can answer those for everyone. Because if one person has a question, very likely more than one person has that same question. So, one of the reasons we love a 3-day event is it does give you that opportunity to make sure you can clear some things up. So, we did. We cleared up. I put my slides in the right order and presented it again the next morning, and 15 people joined our program that morning.

People are not going to buy if they don't know what you're asking them to buy.

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Kathi: That's fantastic. Yeah, I find slides are always the thing that can totally screw up. Either they're the wrong slides, the image doesn't show up, the clicker doesn't work, or whatever. Or someone wants to do your slides for you, and I'm like, "Oh, no, please don't do my slides for me. I need the clicker, right?" Nothing like not being in control when you're speaking.

Dannella: Yeah, no. I totally get that.

Kathi: So, if that had been a 1-day event and that had happened to you, what would you have done? Would you have maybe changed the sequence and gone back in and done another segment yourself at the end, even if you weren't scheduled? Or how would you salvage that?

Dannella: A couple of things you can do. You normally make the offer about two-thirds of the way through the event. So, at a 1-day event, I would have made the offer a little bit earlier, and it would not have been as big an offer. Typically, the amount of time that you have with an audience is going to be one of the factors in how big an ask you can make of that audience. If they've just met you, you have a certain amount of time for people to get to know, like and trust you, and know what that next step is. So, had it been a one-day event, it probably would have been something that we already had together. It wouldn't have been such a new offer. So, that would have been one thing that might have helped things be clear. But even in a one-day event, you typically have some time to come back and share that. If I didn't really feel like I could pull together all the clarity that I needed, what I might have done would be to invite people to a post-event session that day, or I might have just said, "You know what? I know some of you have questions, so let's book a call this week." I might have set up individual time with people, depending on the size of the audience. Or if I didn't realize until too late in the event that, oh my goodness, these people have a lot of questions and I don't really have time to answer them all, I might follow up with people in an email or with a phone call, and even schedule something for the future, another type of masterclass or something, in order to get that clarity.

Kathi: Yeah, that makes total sense. Well, those are just some good band-aids for when things go askew, which things will typically do. There's always one little wacky thing during an event. So, the idea is just change course and make it happen, for sure. So, boy, you're a wealth of knowledge. Is there anything that we should have discussed? I know we have a free treat here that we're going to offer people, but is there any question that I should have asked you that you think would make sense to put a wrap on this discussion?

Dannella: Well, if you haven't taken advantage of the fact that we took speaking and events virtual 3 years ago, I don't know what you're waiting for. Speaking and events is, in my opinion, one of the fastest, most economical and lowest-threshold paths to success for you to grow your business. So, if growth is part of your 2023, you want to make more money, you want to get more clients, you want to have more collaborators, you want to be seen, have more influence, you want to tap into speaking and events. Virtual really does keep your costs and your risks down. There are a lot more costs and risks that come with having in-person events. So, start with virtual, stay with virtual. We're still seeing even some of the biggest names in the industry, about 70/30, staying with virtual for some of their bigger events. And part of that is great cost savings and still having the opportunity for great impact. So, don't sit on the fence any longer. I like to say the longer you sit on the fence, the only thing you get is more splinters on your butt. Get on one side or the other. But speaking and events, get out there. There are people that need your message. There are people that need your expertise and what you alone can offer. You might be an expert on losing weight, and of course there are tens of thousands of other experts that help people lose weight, but nobody with your experience, nobody with your point of view. So, your people are waiting for you. So, whether you help people lose weight, make more money, grow their business, marketing, sales, personal development, meditation, whatever it is that you're bringing to other people to impact them in a positive manner, the world is waiting for you. So, get out there, speak your message, grow your business, and for many of you, having your own event will make sense. Events can be an exponentially greater reward than simply speaking on other people's stages, and they work together. So, if you need help, I'd love to be further support. We've got a couple of resources for you, but get off the fence.

Nobody with your experience, nobody with your point of view. So, your people are waiting for you.

Kathi: Get onto Zoom. Zoom, Zoom, Zoom, at bare minimum. And I'm with you on that, Dannella. I think everyone's message is unique. So, like you say, there could be 15,000 people out there talking about weight loss, but there are going to be those individuals who really resonate with you and your message, right? The unique gift of yourself. You are your own gift. So, I agree totally. Everyone out there listening, get on that Zoom, start speaking. So you muddle it up. Who cares? Just do it, do it, do it. That is our message for today. Now, let's talk about free treats, because if you're inspired and you're motivated, let's go ahead and download what Dannella is offering. And what is that?

Dannella: So, I'm going to invite you to go to my speaker site, which is dannella360.com. D-A-N-N-E-L-L-A 360.com. And you'll see a button that says gifts. You'll also see a lot of other information about us. We're uploading our TV show there this week, so you'll be able to see episodes there. So, lots of things that you can do to find out about us and events, but there is a button that says free gifts. There's a gift for speakers. That's our Speakers Crush It from the Stage checklist, for you to be prepared, positioned and profitable, whether it's a virtual stage or an in-person stage. And if you're thinking about events, there's our Six Steps to Six-Figure Events. It goes just a little bit deeper into those six steps that I shared with you here today. You're welcome to grab one of them, both of them, and take those as my gifts and resources for you today.

Kathi: I love it. That's very generous. Now, make sure you go and download Dannella's gifts, and also download your six steps to organize your fantastic life. My gift to you. Download that. Woo! Everybody get organized. Everybody get energized. Go out there and speak, speak, speak. So, thank you, Dannella. I really appreciate your time. And good luck, all you out there. Just grab on Zoom, and hey, if you just talk to your cat, talk to your cat. Get warmed up and do some talking and speaking.

Dannella: Thank you.