Lessons Learned: Make an Impact LIVE! 2011

You only need to take a quick look at my Twitter stream to see how profoundly I was impacted by the brilliant work of this year’s Make an Impact LIVE! speakers.

In going over my notes, I challenged myself to share a choice tidbit from each speaker with you.

Even if you aren’t a tweeter, it’s easy to take a closer look at all the goodness of #impactlive by going here: http://tweetchat.com/room/impactlive.

Here are brief highlights of lessons learned from our speakers:

Tom Fiffer emphasized that the place where your purpose and passion meet your work is sacred ground. An eloquent Yale grad and gifted wordsmith, he lit us on fire with poetic reminders such as, “Dance with the light that burns within you.” Tom is a story teller who brings life design work to life.

Your greatest work Resonates, is Relevant, has Reach, and Rights a wrong. ~@tomaplomb

Travis Robertson shared a compelling personal story of “having it all” in the world’s eyes while his life was crumbling from inside out and how he started life anew to live true to his greatest life priorities. He challenged us on whether we are chasing comfort…or chasing a life of significance that inherently requires discomfort. His call to leave mediocrity in the dust, never settle, take risks, and live full out was transformative for many.

We’ve sadly convinced ourselves that the purpose of life is just slide through and die comfortable. ~@travisro

Mitch Matthews rounded off our opening night by hosting a Big Dream Gathering. Mitch is a master at not only helping people reach deep within themselves to connect to their biggest true callings, but also to reach out to support and get help from others. He awakened us to the false stories we often tell ourselves about getting help…and shared stories of amazing synergies between big dreamers that changed the world.

Think of your “weakness” as a puzzle piece that allows another to match and live out their dreams. ~@mitchmatthews

Michael Port, four times NY Times bestselling author, brought his A game as promised. Attendees raved about his energy, content, and interactive delivery. He took on the myth that marketing gets you clients when all it really gets you is awareness, and then people give you a chance to build trust. He emphasized that the foundation of marketing is to be real and relevant. He advised that if you are primarily tactical in your marketing, you will never build a solid foundation of trust. He encouraged us to create a “red velvet rope policy” as a filtration system to allow in only our most ideal clients.

Choose your clients based on YOUR values. Sell only to those types of people who you do your best work with. ~@michaelport

Michael gets a second shout out. A tremendous supporter of my new book, Walking with Justice, he blessed me when I had an opportunity to pop out for a national TV interview during his talk. He made the decision easy and gave me this wise advice on the way out the door:

Focus on being helpful instead of being good. That will enable you to be great! ~@michaelport

Carol Roth, NY Times bestselling author of The Entrepreneur Equation, urged us to think bigger. Take your big goal…and triple it. Even if you don’t hit it, you will get a whole lot farther. She walked us through making smart business decisions with an equation to weigh the risks and rewards. She was a voice of reason, asking if we were allowing ourselves to take a step back when feeling stuck…instead of just pushing through. You can stop and tweak at any time.

Make sure you business is remarkable, scalable, viable and suitable! ~@caroljsroth

Frank McKinney shared savvy business and personal lessons from his growth starting out with $50 in his pocket to amassing millions as a real estate artist. He talked about how deeply he needed to go within to finish his sixth 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon race across the desert (“There is a reason the bible was written in the desert.”). The race benefits his charity that provides housing and care for the poor of Haiti. He shared tips on listening to the taps that lead to us dovetailing our highest career calling with our highest spiritual calling.

God rewards responsible stewards. Want more? How are you caring for what you have? ~@FrankMcKinney

We are thrilled to announce that Frank is the recipient of the First Annual Walking with Justice Servant Mentor Award in recognition of his compassionate service to humanity and his passionate mentoring and support of others to serve in a bigger way.

We also are thrilled to announce that for the second year in a row, Make an Impact LIVE! raised over $20,000 to support Frank’s work in Haiti. Thank you to all of the speakers who offered tremendous high-value auction prizes and to all who doubly invested in themselves… and in those less fortunate. All of the auction winners broke bread (and Chicago pizza) with Frank and the speakers on Friday night.

John Morgan closed out Friday, keeping everyone on their toes and engaging them in the need to brand for success. As he says, nobody woke up today thinking they need to give you money. You must boldly stand for something, clearly brand, and consistently promote. Along the way, make sure you are being fully yourself. Get creative. Taking his own advice, John shared that he calls his strategy for identifying, following, connecting with, and adding value to people’s lives his Creepy Stalker method (yes, this indeed does work for him!).

If you win a customer on price, you will lose a customer on price. ~@johnmorgan

Bob Burg flew in to join us for our Friday night VIP networking reception…also known as the Bob Burg Hug Tour. Everyone is always happy to see him enter a room.

Bob kicked us off on Saturday morning with oodles of wisdom in selling and influencing the go-giver way. As he worked through the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success, he generously shared resources and entertained as a gifted impressionist. Working us through the Law of Receptivity and the natural breathing in and out of life, he emphasized the difference between a giver…and a door map. He wrapped up with a rousing Q&A session. In the most retweeted wisdom of the event, he said:

If you sell on price you’re a commodity. If you sell on value you’re a resource. ~@BobBurg

I followed Bob with my Thriving and Serving talk. It was an honor to receive a standing ovation after sharing wisdom from my life’s greatest mentor in the premier book reading of Walking with Justice. I was pretty much mush after that. My speech addressed the greatest challenge leaders face today: keeping hope alive and inspiring others in dark times of doubt and uncertainty. I gave tools for leaders to renew their energy daily and rekindle their own hope.

Our power lies in our small daily choices, one after another, to create eternal ripples of a life well lived. ~@DrMollieMarti

After a networking lunch, the team who wow’d us with the greatest story of collaboration won copies of Bob’s books. (If you don’t yet have a copy of The Go-Giver and It’s Not About You in your library…please fix that soon).

Gina Parris reminded us that love is like fire…capable of warming our houses or burning them down.  She encouraged us to speak blessings to those in our lives. Develop a grace zone in which you don’t allow in negative and don’t foster it toward others. She applied sports psychology principles to help us take care of our most intimate relationships and share tools to help us be successful in business and happy at home. In many ways she made real…that perfect love drives out fear and wins every time.

It’s exhausting to try to be anything but who you really are. ~@GinaParris

Mitch Matthews brought his energy, humor and simple, solid tools to teach five ways to bootstrap your big dream for free or next to nothing. He made clear that bootstrapping your dreams is not about “being cheap” but rather starting where you are and planting seeds of possibility. After he lost his shoes as he was rolling in this session, we knew there was no stopping him!

When you keep front & center this Q you will find opportunities & connections: WHO has complimentary dreams? ~@mitchmatthews

We wrapped up the event with our “No Questions Left Unanswered” coaching panel. From bigger picture “How did you get started?” stories to nitty gritty “What’s my next step?” guidance, we covered it all!

Thank you to our master of ceremonies feliciaslattery for her enthusiasm, professionalism, and all around awesomeness. She is a pro keeping guests engaged and the program moving forward on schedule.

These speakers reminded us that with humility, vision, support and extraordinary persistence, we CAN do anything. When you search the tweets, you will find hashtags accompanying #impactlive such as #wisdom #truth and #wow. Now you know why.

(You also will see a whole lot of fun, levity, razzing, and “inside jokes”… but that’s another story…and definitely one reason you must join us for next year’s event!).

For those of you interested in hosting an event, this experience confirmed for me the secret sauce. Carefully select real deal speakers at the top of their game who walk it out, respect each other, love to have fun together, and are dedicated to serving others. With this recipe, you will create a memorable and transformative event for everyone who walks in the door.

To all — put the wisdom of these speakers to work in your business and life today to make a bigger impact!

Are You Ready To Join Us for Make An Impact LIVE! 2012?
Click here to reserve your spot today at the lowest price!

Make an Impact LIVE! is a non-profit event organized by Best Life Design. All ticket and sponsorship assistance goes directly to paying for expenses (including venue, catering, advertising, and other event costs) and direct support to non-profit organizations. In its first two years, the event has generated $45,000 for non-profit humanitarian aid. If you or your organization would like to contribute to making Make an Impact LIVE! possible, please email info@bestlifedesign.com with more information or to receive a sponsorship package. And be sure to attend! We can’t hold this event and make this type of impact without your help.

By being a Make an Impact LIVE! sponsor, you’re helping to create a community that stands together in the service of others after the event ends. This conference is known for its tremendous and life changing networking mojo. It brings together individuals and organizations as change agents to fuel a local and global conversation around growing leaders and creating sustainable businesses that positively impact the world. This fuels Best Life Design’s vision of supporting leaders to thrive and serve as they help create a better future for more people.

We look forward to sharing more information on our partners including each sponsor’s philosophy and what motivated them to partner to support this event.

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