The DO Lectures - From clueless...

Hi ,

In 2008, we started The Do Lectures.

A year earlier, a friend had sent us a text: ‘Don’t just stand there, do something.’ Dick Dastardly.

At around the same time, I had been invited to the tools camp at Patagonia. I couldn’t go. But I thought I could watch the talks online, but at the time, they didn’t film them. 

Those two things became the kindling for starting The Do Lectures.

Aside from never having organised an event.

Aside from not having a single organised bone in my body.

Aside from having no spare time at all.

Aside from having no budget for this.

It made TOTAL sense to me.

Oh dear. 

A decade of mistake after mistake followed. 

But the learning was beautiful. And fun.

As we stumbled and fell, we just got straight back up.

If I could pinpoint my biggest learning, it is to be patient with your ideas.

They may take a while to bloom.

Along the way, we learned how to do a small event better than most.

Now people all over the world ask us how to do events.

A £1.2 billion events business wanted to buy us.

We were even put on lists of the best events in the world.

And none of that would have happened if we didn’t keep going.

So yeah, if you have an idea, the biggest gift you can give it is your patience.

It is just making its way into the world.

Go gentle with it.

David Hieatt

Co-founder.

P.S. Our Small Magical Events Online Course Launches End of Feb. Ish.

7 Mistakes Small Events Make.

(I have made them all over the last 14 years, so I speak from the school of hard knocks)

1. Every small event owner wants their event to be bigger

Tip: Reframe Scale.

There are other ways to grow your event without increasing its size. Influence comes not from how big your event is but from how you make them feel as human beings when they leave you.

2. The people you are copying are struggling like mad too.

Tip: The business model is broken.

People who run events don’t suffer from a lack of work effort. Each year you say next year, it will get better. But it doesn’t. The economics are against you. To thrive, you must look at it in a whole different way.

3. The magic is the first to get cut.

Tip: The underdog knows to play a different game.

The things that’ll make your event remarkable are also the things when the budget gets squeezed, and it will, are the easiest to cut back on. Think about that for a moment. The things that will make your event stand out, get cut.

Hmmm.

4. You don't need to sell your event.

Tip: 100 true fans whispering, ‘YOU GOTTA GO.’

The people who leave your event are your biggest fans. This is the word-of-mouth economy. And being remarkable is the currency that fuels it. Therefore, learning how not to cut ‘The Magic’ will determine your success.

5. Where the reputation is made is not the same place as where the money is made. 

Tip: Understand the purpose of the event.

The job of the event is to create and host a life-changing event for 100 people. That’s it. The purpose of the event is to make a reputation. That is the hard thing. That is the skill. That is the genius. Making money is a consequence of getting that right. Reputation must come first.

6. You are not in the event business.

Tip: It is all about relationships.

You are in the building a community business. How strong your community is directly tied to how much you serve your community. The simple rule here is: Give more than you take. As much as it is simple, that rule is the most ignored.

7. Reputation creates scarcity.

Tip: Don’t have a Marketing budget, have a Magic budget.

The problem with most small events is they neither make a profit nor make a reputation. Not making a reputation is far more costly of the two. It is far cheaper for your attendees to sell your next year’s event for you than having to run expensive ads. Remember, the word-of-mouth economy.

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The DO Lectures Ltd. The Old Jeans Factory, Bath House Road, Cardigan, SA43 1JY

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