A few weeks back my 2 sons (Jack and Harry) competed in a 5 member school team (4 students and a teacher) in the grueling 96 km Kokoda Challenge.
The lads trained very hard for months leading up to the event and were pretty keen to win the school section (there were 66 teams competing).
Managed To Win & Break The Old Record
Everything went well on the day and they managed to not only win but they knocked 21 minutes off the old record after a staggering 19 hour 15 minute trek through the bush.
L-R: Nathan, Ryan, Glen Hogan (Teacher), Harry, Jack
Because of the win they were to be awarded the Stan Bisset Cup.
A Bit About Stan
Stan Bisset is an iconic Australian – he’s a Kokoda Track veteran, the oldest living Wallaby (Australian Rugby Union team) and has been awarded an OAM for his service to veterans.
(If you’ve ever read Peter Fitzsimons brilliant book ‘Kokoda‘ you might remember that Stan was one of the central people in the book, with the story of Stan holding his dying brother Butch in his arms after he was shot on the Kokoda Track a particularly poignant part.)
Jack and Harry read up on Stan and were mighty proud to have won the Cup named in his honour.
Stan Invited The Boys For A Visit
The boys found out Stan lives on the Sunshine Coast (a few hundred kilometres up the road) and phoned to thank Stan for the inspiration – they were thrilled when Stan invited them up for a visit.
Jack and Harry enjoyed a great afternoon with Stan and his wonderful wife Gloria, with Stan recounting many of his war stories and having a long chat.
The Cup Presented By The Man Himself
A few days later the boys, along with the rest of the team, were invited along to a reunion of Stan’s legendary 2/14 Battalion to have the Stan Bisset Cup presented by the man himself.
To say the team were overwhelmed is the understatement of the year.
One of my boys commented later to someone that:
“The things that the 39th and 2/14th did make you realise the rest of us have much to be modest about.”
Good line that one! And true, too.
Well Done To Kokoda Organisers
Because the Stan Bisset Cup is a perpetual trophy (meaning it’s not kept forever by the winning team), the event organisers came up with a very neat trophy the boys could keep forever.
Today the boys came home from school with a trophy each for the win.
And it’s about the best trophy I’ve ever seen – remembering that it’s for the boys trudging 96 kms in the bush.
96 km Kokoda Challenge Trophy - First To The Line
What a cool trophy – simple, cheap and with just a bit of thought the lads all end up with a trophy that’s:
When I was 10 years old, my 11 year old brother and I were fishing from the wharf in our hometown of Hobart.
It was 1976 and the only people around was a few local drunks and the beat copper trying to find a nice warm spot to stand for a minute or 2.
It’s not like that now.
These days Elizabeth Pier in is dotted with bars, fine dining restaurants and up market accommodation.
Quite sophisticated.
(If a couple of local kids fished there today at the late hour we were, their parents would be arrested for neglect, there’d be a huge outcry and before the week was out a huge fence would be erected with signs galore keeping you out!)
But back then it was just Scott and I trying to catch a fish.
We Were Cold Wet & Hungry
We were cold, wet and hungry (we were always hungry). It was after 9 pm. We weren’t leaving until we caught one last fish.
Suddenly, Scott felt a massive tug on his line. We had no idea what it could be. A fish was our best guess. Beyond that we had no clue. Us Sinclairs weren’t that smart.
What we eventually dragged up (from the Derwent River in the middle of Hobart) after a 10 minute struggle was a hell of a surprise to us.
We Raced Home
We bagged our prize and raced home.
When I say “raced” I mean we got home as fast as the old MTT bus would trundle us up the hill.
“Mum, Dad…..you won’t believe what we just caught!” we gasped as we raced in the front door.
They were AMAZED AND ASTOUNDED!
You see, they’d never heard of anyone catching a shark before in the middle of Hobart.
People Read Stories
The point of this story is this: People love and read stories.
It’s how we communicate most effectively.
Stories are a time honoured and highly credible way to:
get attention
keep attention
make your point
I reckon people are sick of the same old boring sales copy – could your business just start telling stories of amazing service, great care or personal ancedotes to connect with your market?
I bet you could.
…..But Back To The Shark
It was only a little shark to be sure.
But it was big enough to let me tell people we once caught a shark in the middle of Hobart!
One thing I really enjoy doing, and am okay at, is giving speeches.
It’s something I really should market more because I seem to get some pretty good feedback when I go along and have a chat.
“….Inspirational & Absolutely Hilarious”
“Brendon Sinclair’s talk was inspirational and absolutely hilarious.”
“Bloody brilliant – you summed up marketing better than any speaker in my fourteen years…..”
“Fantastic talk, I only wish we could have organised more time.”
“Every single student found the talk inspiring and inspirational and I can not express my gratitude enough to Brendon for giving his time so generously.”
“If you ever get the opportunity to hear Brendon speak…..”
“If you ever get the opportunity to hear Brendon speak don’t miss the chance to learn something while having a good laugh.”
“I really liked the style of speech, it was well crafted yet at the same time casual. The content was both insightful and entertaining.“
“…it was light-hearted but info packed. Easy to keep up with, though.”
“Very down to earth and real. Gave some great info that most people won’t tell you – refreshingly simple and to the point.”
“His self depreciating humour was great, for our students the positiveness of the speech was very motivating.”
“I loved Brendon’s relaxed way of presenting the info and his humour.”
“You were a breath of fresh air……particularly enjoyed self effacing style – believe most attractive to an audience who expect consultants to present with heads slightly wider than average,”
“Your level of organisation was a very pleasant surprise…..but this kind of process provides some kind of comfort that speaker has given customer a little thought, and not taken a “one size fits all” approach to presentation.”
“Brendon is a brilliant business presenter. His presentations are clear, concise and motivating. He offers advice freely and with great knowledge, whilst at the same time ensures interest with… his wit and his energy,”
If you want a marketing or general speaker give me a yell.
A couple of weeks back I wrote an article on online marketing for an industry newsletter.
It resulted in 2 leads.
Prospect # 1: A guy who has emailed me over 12 times demanding free advice with not a please or a thank you in sight.
He’s also phoned me and wasted another hour of my time that way.
His last email was one where he wanted me to provide more free consulting advice on whether an offer he received from a local Google AdWords company was a scam.
My response, which ended with “Why don’t you look at your marketing from an integrated point of view and implement strategies that give you real, measurable engagement with your target market?” seems to have scared him off.
I’d much prefer doing great work for existing clients than waste time on a guy who:
is kicking tyres
values my time at $0
Prospect # 2: A fellow who has an understanding of the value of what we offer (he knows that he’;s missing lots of sales because his web site doesn’t generate 20% of the leads it could).
After a couple of phone calls this guy is set for a 1 hour meeting from which I’ll send him a quote for $4,000+ in work.
20 Prospect # 1 Would Send You Broke
let’s assume your marketing generated you 20 prospects like my Prospect # 1 each week.
That would mean your entire week is taken up giving free advice to someone who values it at exactly that.
The sooner you cut loose the wrong sort of prospect, the better your business will be.
You see, what often happens when someone online compliments you is that you tell your audience about their kind words (and include a link to the mention as proof).
Like I did.
I did it, like most people do, so I can say to my audience (that’s you mum!) “Heh look here, other people think I’m smart!”
To prove what these guys said, I linked over to their web site.
And as I mentioned here, a link to your web site from a half decent web site (like this one is) can give you a decent boost in search engines.
So the more love you give, the more links you get.
“Sorry for tooting my own horn here, but Brendon Sinclair, of The Web Design Business Kit & Tailored Consulting fame just reviewed my ebook.
As an SEO it is fairly hard to get recognition from people well known in the web design field, and few voices are more credible than Brendon’s, so that review has got me pretty stoked.”
See how Aaron has leveraged my credibility to aid his own credibility.
We’re thrilled to be part of the team to put together their ‘Tell 50‘ initiative.
Kids Can Win A Cool $500
It’s an initiative where school kids who have seen their SEAT presentation, or been inspired by the Tell 50 video, can enter a competition to very easily win a cool $500.
Cold hard cash!
It’s simple to enter – full details here – and you just might save someone from serious injury at the same time.
People Read Stories
Cheers
