Tuesday, September 1, 2015

Momma Was WRONG About Sticks and Stones

Your mother may have told you that sticks and stones will break your bones, but words will never hurt you...unfortunately, Momma was wrong!



Too many people hang onto the negative comments of others and use them as an excuse as to why they are unable to achieve success or fulfill their dreams.

I prefer to make a Fired Up list (FU List) of people and sayings that I am fully committed to crushing.

Look at successful athletes, entrepreneurs, or parents who were doomed to failure in the eyes of others, yet they were fired up enough to use that negativity as fire to keep their motivation burning when times got tough.

What do you do to stay fired up?

Always Better Your Best!

Excited to speak at your next meeting or event!

Speakermatch: http://speakermatch.com/profile/theshef/
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/TheShef
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/theshef
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/BusinessMotivationalSpeaker

For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at 1-563-343-5412

Monday, August 3, 2015

http://www.TheShef.com

Keynote motivational speaker, Dave "The Shef" Sheffield, encourages you to add more cowbell to your life.

Just like the epic SNL classic skit with Christopher Walken touting the importance of "More Cowbell!", your customers are demanding something extra, and it usually doesn't cost anything.


Whether it is providing an amazing customer experience by leaving mints on the pillow, calling to check in and see how happy they are with the product or service, or sending a handwritten thank you note; the "cowbell" is what can set you apart from your competition in a noisy marketplace!

What do you do to differentiate your brand and business?
Always Better Your Best!


Excited to speak at your next meeting or event!
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/TheShef
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/theshef
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/BusinessMotivationalSpeaker

For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at1-563-343-5412

Friday, July 10, 2015

The Time Crunch!

Perfect timing rarely exists.



I recently found out that I had 10 days to find a new place to live and move due to an expedited closing on the house I was living in.

It was horrible timing; after all, I was performing in a huge event, and was taking my son to Navy bootcamp in that same time period. Talk about stress!

But it all worked out. I found an awesome new place on the river, and realized that despite the stresses of the time crunch, that deadline forced me to muster up resources and focus to get the job done.

You don't always get to pick the timing of events in your life, but understand that you grow because of challenge, you don't die from it.

Excited to speak at your next meeting or event!
Twitter: http://www.Twitter.com/TheShef
LinkedIn: http://www.LinkedIn.com/in/theshef
Facebook: http://Facebook.com/BusinessMotivationalSpeaker

For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at 1-563-343-5412

Friday, June 5, 2015

Bullhorn vs. Bridge When Marketing Your Small Business

Bullhorn Shouting


Your inbox shows you a message from a new social media contact which reads:

“Thanks for connecting with me on LinkedIn/Facebook/Twitter. I’d like to offer you a special 15% discount on your carpet purchase……”

Offering a special to your readers or followers via social media is not a bad thing, however, there are 2 problems with the above offer:
1. He hasn’t earned the right to ask me for my business! I don’t even know this guy!
2. An auto-response containing an offer is horribly insincere. (Unless they have purchased or requested something from you)

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past 5 years, you have encountered people who bulldoze every conversation with self promotion, which is about as effective as the street corner preacher screaming at passing pedestrians through a bullhorn.

Social media can be one of the greatest marketing tools in your business’ arsenal, but how do you engage and promote your business without turning off your reader?

1. Earn the right to ask.

Give value first, listen, and repeat. After several cycles of that, you have earned the right to ask. One of my favorite books on this topic is Gary Vaynerchuk’s Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook.

2. Share valuable content

Being a bridge that connects your reader or follower to content that they care about creates depth and value in your relationship in the eyes of the other person. This strategy also works well when connecting people at successful networking events.

3. One at a time

One of the most common questions I hear from small business audiences is, “There are so many social media channels, how do I use them all and have time to run my business?”
I recommend getting familiar with one social media channel for a few weeks, then add one new channel at a time. It is better to be great at something than to not suck that bad at everything!
One great resource I’d recommend is Twitter Power 3.0, written by my friend, Joel Comm. He is an ace at all things social media, yet explains everything in an entertaining non-geek language.

4. Use these free tools!

1. Create a good looking social media banner. If you aren’t a design ace, find someone on Fiverr to design a banner for you for $5.
2. Join a feed service like Feedly to help streamline your reading and industry news.
3. Join Buffer to schedule your Tweets and other social media communication.
4. Join Hootsuite  to help monitor your conversations and to communicate with your customers on Twitter.You can get up and running with all of these within an hour, and begin to enjoy the benefits of growing your business and credibility. 
Here is a short video I recorded for a small business audience I spoke to recently:


For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at 1-563-343-5412

Friday, March 6, 2015

Networking Event Success: 4 Critical Strategies

Most networking events are filled with people who seem to vomit business cards all over anyone with a pulse. Many successful people don't attend networking events, yet their biggest clients and breakthroughs happened via someone in their network.
So what separates the good events from the bad? Here are 4 tips for creating an awesome networking event.

How do you create an outstanding networking event?


1. Invite the right people

Most power players do not attend networking events because decision makers are not usually in attendance. However, I just attended an outstanding networking event hosted by Stephen Meade at a posh restaurant called Fred's in Beverly Hills. His invitation only networking events are packed with influential people who can bring something to the table.

Larry Benet and Dave Sheffield Networking in Beverly Hills
Larissa, Larry, Pierre, Devin, and I at an awesome networking event in Beverly Hills

2. Fun and Fitting


Great networking events are efficient, entertaining, and exclusive.
Chose the right venue for what you are trying to accomplish. The right place for an investment banking crowd will not be the same as one for a road construction owner crowd.
As a bonus, make sure that they volume of the entertainment keeps the party going without being too loud to carry on a conversation.

3. Broadcast by Narrowcasting


My good friend, Larry Benet is known as "The Connector" and is the founder of SANG Events. He connects you to the tools, people, and resources that you need to be successful. Everyone knows Larry and Larry knows everyone.
Larry and I spoke at the same conference in San Diego last year, and I was impressed with his command of being concise when showing people how to get what they want in business and life. Most people ramble on about meaningless details regarding their business and what they want. When you tighten down your desires for what you want, you will attract the right people quickly.
People may appreciate what you do, but they love people who help them do what they do more profitably and quickly. I wrote more extensively on this in a previous post.

4. Reach out to your attendees for feedback


The people who invested their time and resources to attend your event have excellent insight into what went well and what could be improved. Don't take things personally, your job is to create outstanding events that people want to attend.
What strategies have you used to create excellent networking events?


For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at 1-563-343-5412

Monday, February 2, 2015

Seconds of Opportunity

Successful people are known for making decisions quickly.

When faced with an opportunity or an adversity, decide quickly what you want to do and stick with it!


For more information about booking The Shef for your next event, visit http://www.theshef.com or call our offices at 1-563-343-5412