Dave Crenshaw
I just got off the phone with International speaker and NY Times Best Selling author Dave Crenshaw, where we discussed how he became famous. Dave is responsible for writing the “Myth of Multitasking” and on the 25th of May will be launching is new book “Invaluable,” which we will be bombarding Barnes and Noble online and offline to ensure that he hits the NY Times Best Sellers list again.
The purpose of this interview is to show you how you can go from a local business owner into an Internationally known, famous author and motivational speaker.
Become an Authority
Q. One of the hardest things for a motivational speaker to do is find his or her authority voice. How did you find your authority in the world of speaking?
Dave: Your authority voice comes in 2 areas, first local, then if you leverage your cards right, national. To dominate locally you need to have a strong brand with strong imagery.
When I started my company locally my business was called, “Fresh Juice Strategies.” Having a unique name to your business is critical to your success. My business name caused people to remember me and to ask questions about what exactly I did. If you have a generic name for your business people will assume that they know about your business therefore you fall into the same category all of your other competition. However, having a unique name causes potential clients to ask questions and gives you the opportunity to brand yourself.
Another key to branding yourself locally is to give ridiculous customer service. When I was a local business owner I was working through associations and the chamber and would offer such great customer service that people had no choice but to recommend me. I had great customer loyalty because I bent over backwards to serve.
But, when I made my leap from local to national the branding changed. In the beginning I marketed myself as the authority in business development however this grew to an authority in productivity.
But, how I made the gargantuan jump from a local business to a National brand is due to 2 things, my book, “The Myth of Multitasking” and Linkedin. The success of “The Myth of Multitasking” gave me the platform to speak on a national level but in order to get my book nationally known I needed an agent and for that I thank Linkedin.
I leverage Linkedin to find an agent whom could help me get my book out. And it turned out that my soon to be agent was the agent of the man whom did voice over work for me. Most business owners believe that unless you can make a sale from a relationship that there is no value in the relationship; that couldn’t be further from the truth. My voiceover guy helped me connect the dots aiding me to become nationally known.
Time Manage to Achieve Fame
Q. As the readers of StevenRoddy.com pursue their stardom how important is time management?
Dave: Time management is critical! You have to focus on your most important activities daily. Personally, my most important activities are speaking and writing. Anything that I do that is not related to speaking and writing gets in the way of the advancement of my company. The average person spends 30% of their time doing their most productive activities.
You have to become a master at delegating responsibilities, a master of productivity if you want to be famous. Find your most productive activities then zero in on those tasks.
How to Delegate on Limited Funds
Q. Many of speakers, actors and authors when they are just starting out are cash poor but dream rich. How can they delegate the less productive tasks in the beginning when the resources are tight?
Dave: I talk about how to accomplish this through the order of off loading in my book, “Invaluable.” An outline of this is to first build personal systems, then business systems, then purchase and take advantage of technology, then outsource and then finally hire employees.
Overcoming Distractions
Q. I know from talking to you before that you were not a talented time manager…as most creative types aren’t. How did you overcome your struggle with managing your time to become the success that you are today?
Dave: Actually it was a psychologist whom helped me. He told me that I had a severe case of ADHD. In fact he said that I was off the charts! When I came to this realization I leaned on my training from a system standpoint where I learned to create systems to maximize my strengths and minimize my weaknesses.
I read books like Stephen Covey, David Allen, and 4-Hour Work Week, which helped me create personal systems for my faxes, emails, ideas etc.
Then I set out to make the systems brainless. The systems had to be brainless if I was going to stick by them so I took what I learned in those books and in others to form the system that I show you in, “Invaluable.”
3 Keys to Time Management
Q. When managing your time what are 3 of the most important factors to being successful
Dave:
1. You have to realize that multitasking is a lie. Your brain is not able to handle multiple tasks. Work on one thing at a time.
2. You cannot go into debt with your time. I believe that happiness is spending 5 min less than what you have in a day and misery is spending 5 min more than what you have in a day. Most people teach how to pack the maximum amount of activity in an hour. The problem with this is that you leave no room for interruption and you will ALWAYS have interruptions. You have to build in breathing room.
3. Have a clutter free mind. Us creative types have lots of ideas running around in our brain and then get pulled in lots of different directions. Have a system to deal with the million ideas in your head.
Recap
Invaluable
To recap this interview on behalf of Dave, in the business of speaking, establish your authority, stay focused on your strengths and build systems that will help you build your empire.
About Dave
Dave Crenshaw’s mission is to help you get more time. Dave has shown business leaders worldwide how to uncover hidden hours every day and increase their per-hour worth. Dave Crenshaw is a frequent radio guest on stations throughout North America.
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