A keynote speaker in our experience, is a guest speaker who delivers the key “notes” or themes for the event. They must also have the ability to fill the seats by attracting attendees to the event whether they are famous motivational speakers or ordinary corner speakers. Even though event planners look for celebrity speakers, or even famous speakers, they must operate within their budgets.

Most of the events where we speak have several guest speakers but typically only one or two are considered the keynote speakers. Usually it’s for the opening or closing key notes. The organizers want the opening speech to not only entertain, educate, and inspire their group, but they want the content to set the tone (i.e. the “note” for the conference). They want the closing speech to sum up the underlying message of the conference and, ideally, leave the attendees with an inspiring message and tools they can use. They know that folks generally remember the first thing they hear and the last thing they hear, so they want to open and close with their key message.

Opening keynotes tend to capture attention and put the audience in the right frame of mind to appreciate and get the most out of the guest speakers that follow. The closing keynotes tend to remind the audience of general theme of the conference and send them home on high “note.” But how do you find great keynote speakers?

For years it seems the speakers bureaus had a monopoly on accessing well-known keynote speakers and motivational speakers. To a large extent, they still do. Speakers bureaus appear to be based on several different models and combinations thereof:

1. Agent. This model represents the speakers themselves and operates on a percentage of the speaker’s fees. Agents typically promote the speakers that garner the highest fees, more like a speaker’s representative.

2. Outsource.  These bureaus position themselves as working for the event planners and helping them match the best speakers with the particular topics and needs of the conference. This model can gain the on-going trust of the event planners once they have a track record of consistently hitting the mark. After a while, they can “own” the annual conference.

3. Venue. This model works with or is owned by the venues that offer their conference clients ”one-stop” shopping with everything from a facility to catering, from lodging to logistics, and from entertainment to great speakers.

But thanks to social media, the professional speaking business is beginning to change and open up possibilities for independents like us. Word of great candidates can spread through personal and business networks like Twitter and LinkedIn. It’s now much easier for organizers to access speakers directly, check out their websites, see their credentials, read their reviews, and view their speaking reels. The biggest competition facing the speaking bureaus these days is word-of-mouth. When someone in the organization sees a great keynote speaker, they bring them directly to the attention of the organizers. There’s nothing like first-hand, inside referrals to get new, independent keynote speakers booked!

We are primarily business speakers. We speak together as a gender-balanced business couple. Our message is designed to inspire, motivate, and help businesses succeed. We use our history of building a famous brand, starting with virtually nothing, to demonstrate our “Guiding Principles for Success” (GPS) with fun stories and lessons learned the hard way.

We haven’t been represented by a speakers bureau but instead we rely solely on word of mouth, academic and business endorsements, and networking. We spend considerable time discovering the goals of the organizers to see if there is a fit and tailor our talks to their goals. Our greatest reward is getting a note of thanks that says, “You guys really nailed it!”

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post Keynote Speakers Set the Tone for Your Conference appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.

The C-E-O (Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization) had their Annual Conference this past October 31 – November 2 in Chicago, and we were thrilled to be a part of it. When we got up to the stage and even before we began our keynote address, we were taken back by the spectacle of nearly 1,200 college students, faculty, and young entrepreneurs from around the world.

This gathering of aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs was representative of the future of the American economy. Ranging in age from 18 to 24, this was Generation Z at its finest! It was a moving experience to realize that among these young people would emerge the next Steve Jobs and similar business rock stars of the future.

Over the three days of the national conference, we heard many inspiring speakers share their experiences on what it takes to make it in business. We were most impressed by seasoned entrepreneur and senior editor of Inc. Magazine, Norman Brodsky. Norman began his keynote speech not from the stage but from the back of the room, true to his out-of-the-box theme. Then, as he walked through the crowd of young people, he asked a series of questions and provided some surprising answers.

At one point he asked, “What is the main job of the CEO?” The young crowd peppered him with an array of answers from “leadership” to “fundraising,” from “the buck stops here” to “company vision.” After each suggestion, he gave a loud emphatic “NO!” After a period of silence, Norman said, “Culture! The CEO’s main job is to build positive company culture – because true success ultimately comes from your people!”

We couldn’t agree more, and, as a matter of fact, our success with Barefoot Wine was really the success of our team culture. We gave them permission to be creative and, yes, even to make mistakes. This inspired a culture that was fun and friendly, open and respectful of the contributions of others. With the customer at the top, serviced by our sales people, everybody else in the company understood that they worked in Sales Support. Creating positive company culture is the main job of the CEO. Thank you Norman for the reminder!

We met hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs from C-E-O chapters in 43 states and several Canadian provinces. They were all there to soak up as much as they could from proven successful business executives. Throughout the conference, we found that the #1 misconception most folks had was they thought the distribution of their product was somehow going to take care of itself, and that the strength of their idea and the demand by the public would be enough to pull their product through the distribution channels.

Once again we had to remind them, “You can’t buy it if it ain’t there!” And it won’t be there unless you see to it yourself. This is especially true at first when you are an unknown. We live in a wonderful country with the most efficient distribution infrastructure in the world. Shopping in stores brimming with choices of all sorts of products gives us the mistaken idea that everything we see is all there is. But there are thousands of products we never see because they simply never made it to the shelf. Sure, you have to have a great product at an affordable price with a cute logo and compelling catch phrase, but distribution management is ultimately the deciding factor.

We hope our experience and the experience of others who spoke will give these young people the insights they need to succeed. We want the new entrepreneurs of Generation Z to be Generation Zero-limits! Go get ‘em, Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization!

Who We Are

Michael Houlihan and Bonnie Harvey co-authored the New York Times bestselling business book, The Barefoot Spirit: How Hardship, Hustle, and Heart Built America’s #1 Wine Brand. The book has been selected as recommended reading in the CEO Library for CEO Forum, the C-Suite Book Club, and numerous university classes on business and entrepreneurship. It chronicles their humble beginnings from the laundry room of a rented Sonoma County farmhouse to the board room of E&J Gallo, who ultimately acquired their brand and engaged them as brand consultants. Barefoot is now the world’s largest wine brand.

Beginning with virtually no money and no wine industry experience, they employed innovative ideas to overcome obstacles, create new markets and forge strategic alliances. They pioneered Worthy Cause Marketing and performance-based compensation. They built an internationally bestselling brand and received their industry’s “Hot Brand” award for several consecutive years.

They offer their Guiding Principles for Success (GPS) to help entrepreneurs become successful. Their book, The Entrepreneurial Culture: 23 Ways To Engage and Empower Your People, helps corporations maximize the value of their human resources.

Currently they travel the world leading workshops, trainings, & keynoting at business schools, corporations, conferences. They are regular media guests and contributors to international publications and professional journals. They are C-Suite Network Advisors & Contributing Editors. Visit their popular brand building site at www.consumerbrandbuilders.com.

To make inquiries for keynote speaking, trainings or consulting, please contact sales@thebarefootspirit.com.

The post The C-E-O is the Future of The American Economy appeared first on The Barefoot Spirit.