The Undeniable Tour Day 7 – Hustling Pays Off

April 1, 2015 by Leave a Comment
Gorgeous View of the Bay Bridge

Gorgeous View of the Bay Bridge

The slogan for The Undeniable Tour is “Hustle Your Face Off.” This is a quote from Gary Vaynerchuk and it’s both a message I want my audience to hear and it’s my mantra for this trip. I’m trying to reach and meet as many people as I can. Although I only have 5 speaking engagements during this 14-day road trip, my days are filled with meetings and activities.

I want to give a hat tip to Brand X Custom T-shirts in Tempe, AZ who made my “Hustle Your Face Off” t-shirts for me. I’m wearing one of these at each of my tour stops. I’ve had several people tell me they love them, ask to take photos of me when I’m wear one,  and Jacob Sapochnick of Enchanting Lawyer (one my sponsors) asked if I brought a shirt for him.

To me, hustling your face off is about making things happen. You don’t wait for opportunities to come to you; you go after what you want. As long as you are appropriate and mostly professional, I encourage you to push the limits and take strategic risks to get what you want.

I want to give a shout out to Scott Goering. He’s a lawyer/mediator who specializes in juvenile dependency cases. He saw me when I first spoke at the Bar Association in San Francisco in 2012 and has been keeping tabs on me since then because he was impressed by how I use social media in my professional life.

My Hustle Your Face Off Shirts, made by Brand X

My Hustle Your Face Off Shirts, made by Brand X

Footnote: When I say “keeping tabs” I don’t mean he’s been stalking me. He’s simply paid attention to what I publicly post online. It’s part of networking and it’s not creepy.

Scott is based in San Francisco and he’d reached out to me to say that he was looking forward to my presentation at the Bar Association of San Francisco during The Undeniable Tour and the he hoped we could get together while I was in town. I filed that away with all my other tour emails and didn’t give it much thought.

About 6 weeks ago, I was in San Francisco for the Dad 2.0 Summit. The conference and my participation in it was public information – so Scott came by to say hello and to say that he was looking forward to The Undeniable Tour. I was impressed by his tenacity and that sealed the deal for him that I would make room in my schedule when I came back to town to have lunch with him to talk about his ideas for using social media in his career. I don’t consider myself an expert in personal branding or using social media but I was happy to share my thoughts and give him some recommendations of people I follow when it comes to entrepreneurship and marketing including Gary Vaynerchuk, Peter Shankman, Katy Goshtasbi, and Ari Kaplan.

One thing I’ve learned about being successful professionally is you have to go after what you want – whether that’s a job, awards, connections, or opportunities. They won’t come to you through hoping for them, you have to work for it. I encourage you to take strategic risks and be bold about what you want.

If you are interested in connecting with me while I am traveling please follow me on Twitter. If you have any questions or comments about The Undeniable Tour, please shoot me an email.

The Undeniable Tour would not be possible without my amazing sponsors: Web3Mavens, Enchanting Lawyer, Total Networks, and Attorney at Work.

All Tour Sponsors

Filed Under: The Undeniable Tour Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Undeniable Tour Update – Building my Schedule

February 18, 2015 by 2 Comments
Fort Point by Tom Hilton from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

Fort Point by Tom Hilton from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

I’m starting to get really excited about The Undeniable Tour. I booked my flights and I’ve locked in five main speaking gigs, and talking with two groups about organizing two more. Now that I’ve locked in those speaking dates, I’m shifting my focus to what I want to do on the other days of the tour – I’m going to be on the road for two weeks total.

Because my brain works in a very systematic way, I’m building my calendar day by day starting with my first day in San Diego and the last day I will plan will be my last day in Seattle. This trip is giving me the incredible opportunity to reach out to so many people I admire and either want to meet again or meet in person for the first time. I have a short list of people I really really want to meet and I’m wondering how many times I have to tweeted them or message them before they respond – if only to tell me to shut up. And when it comes to this trip, I’m going big. I’m trying not to be so intimidated by anyone that it causes me to not attempt to contact them. As my friend Jason Zook says, “You don’t get what you don’t ask for.” (If you haven’t read his book Creativity for Sale, go buy it immediately. It was because of his book and his course on How To Get Sponsorship For Anything that I was inspired to do The Undeniable Tour.)

I’m getting close to solidifying my lodging for each night. When I said I was handpicking where I wanted to stay each night, I meant it and I only reached out to places where I really really wanted to stay. (What is with me and “really really” today?) I know a lot of these awesome hotels and B&Bs probably get a lot of solicitations like the ones I sent asking for a free or reduced fee night in exchange for giving them exposure. I know I get plenty of opportunities to speak and write for free and I generally turn most of them down because I just don’t have the time, so I’m not offended that a lot of the places have declined the opportunity to give me a free night as part of The Undeniable Tour. There are a few places that I like so much that I may pay full price and stay with them depending on my final budget, and for the other nights, I’m looking into more economical options like couchsurfing and hostels.

I’ve never couchsurfed with strangers before and I’ve never stayed in a hostel. I’m using my upcoming trip to San Francisco to experience hostel life for the first time. I’m really curious to see what it’s like to stay in a dorm room with strangers with the communal bathroom down the hall. It may be the closest I get to camping, and if I like it, I can absolutely see myself traveling more often and using hostels instead of hotels. When I go on an adventure, I don’t really care about where I sleep as long as it’s warm, dry, and safe. Why pay $100-200/night plus a fee for Wi-Fi when you can stay in a hostel for $25/night or couchsurf for free?

 

Filed Under: The Undeniable Tour Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

The Undeniable Tour Update – Getting Excited

February 5, 2015 by Leave a Comment
California One by Thibault Martin-Lagardette from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

California One by Thibault Martin-Lagardette from Flickr (Creative Commons License)

It is about 6 weeks before The Undeniable Tour starts – and I’m starting to get really giddy-excited about it! There is so much to do, so little time, and so much to schedule.

The Undeniable Tour will be a two-week road trip from San Diego to Seattle that includes at least 5 large speaking engagements at law schools and bar associations, and I plan to use my so-called “down time” to meet with fellow awesome lawyers and hopefully some of the people and organizations that I admire professionally. The list of people I want to meet with is growing every day.

I also plan to use The Undeniable Tour to have some much-needed fun. For years I’ve been fascinated by a website called Roadside America. You can enter any city or state in the U.S. and it will tell you what weird, quirky, or unique things are in that area. I’m really want to see the giant Fork in the Road in Pasadena, California. I’m a big fan of the Yogi Berra quote, “When you come to the fork in the road, take it.” Some of the other places I hope to visit during this trip are the Legal Grind coffee shop, the Redwood Forest, the Hat Creek Radio Observatory where they do SETI work, VooDoo Doughnut, and Ballard Locks (fingers cross that at least one of The Deadliest Catch boats will be there).

Since I haven’t gotten a “concierge” sponsor to cover my lodging, I’m beginning to make a list of hotels, B&Bs, and the like where I might want to stay. I want to find independent and unique places that have a good story behind them. My plan is to offer to feature them in a blog and video in exchange for them putting me up. Some of the places on my dream list are the Railway Inn, the Out ‘n’ About Treehouse Treesort, and the Jupiter Hotel. I need to figure out where exactly I’m going to be on each day of the tour to determine where I want to stay each night.

My Hustle Your Face Off Shirts, made by Brand X

My Hustle Your Face Off Shirts, made by Brand X

Did you see the awesome t-shirts that Brand X Custom T-shirts in Tempe made for me? My motto for this tour is “Hustle Your Face Off.” This will be the mantra that drives me every day and also the message I hope to pass along to my audience. I’ll be wearing one of these shirts at each of my large speaking engagements. (Hat tip to Gary Vaynerchuk for coining this phrase and giving his blessing to have these shirts made.”) If you want to have your own Hustle Your Face Off shirt (or anything else) made by Brand X, use the code 4TRV-16VSL-3 to get $5 off your order (expires 4/3/2015).

One of the walls in my office is covered by 4 large sticky notes right now – one for each region I’ll be hitting during the tour with color-coded ideas on each one. These are definitely helping me stay focused and organized. I included them on this week’s video update.

If you have any suggestions for things I should see, people I should meet, or places I should stay, please let me know!

Filed Under: The Undeniable Tour Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,