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Get ready because everything is about to change. There's a new way of living life and doing business that will blow your mind. This is a podcast all about the timing of life and the timing of success. It's what we call the Right on Time life. And you are listening to the Right on Time podcast with Amber McHugh. Colin Boyd. Welcome to the Write on Time podcast.

Hey. It's so good to be here, Amber. I've been looking forward to this conversation.

I am beyond excited to see you. And just so you know, as you listen to this or you're watching, Colin and I haven't caught up in, I mean we've caught up like by messenger and we've emailed but we have not talked or seen each other on video. Has it been a year? It's been two years. It's been two years and we did not cheat. We did not allow ourselves to do any real catch ups before this recording. So you're going to get it all. This is like the real, real. We only did logistical conversation. Like are you ready to record your coolest video? Okay, let's go. So we, I've been holding back. I've been holding back. We're going out. We're going all in live.

I'm excited. I'm really excited.

Helen, usually I ask people before we start up, is there anything that you don't want me to ask? Sorry about that.

No. Well, let's go all on record. Everything's on record today.

Everything's on record. Right on time. I am so pumped to be diving into this because the first time I met Collin we were actually at a Mastermind together. Was Lily there the first time I met you? I don't know, maybe, maybe not. But my daughter, my 21 year old has met Collin as well. And she's like, they're so great. Colin's great. They're family. We got a lot of love for Colin and his whole family. And so we met you and had you moved to California yet or were you still living in Australia?

We were still living in Australia and we hadn't really decided fully to move to the US yet. And I met Lily and I was like, she's just beautiful as yourself. And I was like, and one of the reasons as well is I just love that name Lily. And so my daughter, who her middle name is Lily, that's we were going to call her Lily, we decided to call her Georgia. But I was like, she has to have the name Lily. And so yeah, so oh my goodness.

I forgot about that connection that is so fun.

But yeah, we hadn't moved. We hadn't moved yet.

You hadn't moved. So Colin, I mean, you've got some of the background on Colin from a professional perspective. But as we dive in, Colin, could you just share with everyone little bit about yourself?

Yes. So my name's Colin, I'm Australian. You can hear. I was actually born in Canada, so I've done like the round. I was born in Canada, grew up in Australia, now live in California in Newport Beach. We've got two little kids, Jonah, Georgia, seven and five. And then my amazing wife Sarah, who you know as well. Yeah, we've been married for 14 years. And really essentially what my business does is I help coaches and speakers to sell on virtual and live stages when live stages open up. But mainly just virtual right now.

Yes. So how has that transition, I mean, going right into this, how is that transition from selling on an actual stage and engaging with people on an actual stage to virtual been for people that you've been working with?

Yeah, I think there's kind of people in two camps because I, it was probably six years ago that I decided to go online and so I used to be a full blown professional speaker, you know, doing the rounds, flying around to the big corporations coming in, doing it, doing a 45 minute keynote, straight on the next plane into the next hotel. 45 minute keynote, straight on the next plane into the next hotel. So I was like doing all of that and it was great money and I actually really loved it. I didn't love the lifestyle from the sense of when I had kids, that's when I started to really realize something needed to change. And, and I remember I was sitting in a hotel and I was like, I feel like I was emotionally bankrupt, like I had nothing left. And I was looking down the pipeline of about 40 gigs over about two months. But it was out of control, right. So I thought I'd reached the pinnacle of what I wanted to reach. I'd climbed this mountain and I was on the top and I did not like the view. And that was when I decided to go online. So that was about six years ago and then that was when I joined the mastermind that I met you in. And I remember when I came into that world, you know, everyone was just fully online and I was like. And because I was in Australia, that wasn't even like a thing yet. Right. And so I felt like such a baby when I first started out with you guys and. But it's been amazing, just kind of being saturated, intensely in that space. And then now I would say 95% of my business is online stages using webinars and videos, live video.

That's incredible because I don't think it really registered for me that you weren't really online until the last couple of years, year and a half.

Like when you, when you guys were talking like about funnels and, you know, conversion rates and things, I was, I had no idea what was going on. But when someone asked me about, I think I was chatting with Jill and Josh Stanton originally because they were like, hey, how do we present this idea? And I shared it with them and I remember them saying, dude, this is like incredible. And for me, that was all I could help with. So I felt like this one armed bricklayer who knew how to lay bricks, but I was kind of like, didn't know what else to do.

Incredible. It's incredible to think about that rapid transition that you made. So in that time, in that one and a half, this 18 month span, you've moved from Australia to California, you've taken your business entirely online from offline, moved countries, all online. And so now is the business 100% online now?

It pretty much is, yeah, it's pretty much a hundred because we live events aren't on at the moment. So for me, when I think about it, and I said people in two camps because I feel like there's, there was, I made that transition like six years ago, but then there's a bunch of people, especially if they are speakers, there's a bunch of people who haven't made that transition yet and they're, you know, they're scrounging to make that transition now to, to use online stages. But for me, online stages, like a webinar or a video or something are very similar to a live stage. And one, you know, the principles are essentially the same. The, some of the technical aspects of it are obviously different, but I think that the principles, and for me, when I first built my academy, I always saw it like that and, and I always saw that this idea of you could, you could apply the principles to a live stage or an online stage, but for me, a live stage, I mean the conversion rates you can get from a live stage just like, are insane. And I know, I know just recently I did some coaching with like scrutiny 9 to 5 and they just ran a live event and they just blew it out of the park, you know, like smashed it and then. But you transition to an online stage, you just need more numbers in an online stage to do, to do well. But that's totally doable because it's scalable.

It's scalable. That's fascinating because one of the things that when I was coming into the online world years ago and it's evolved, one of the things that always surprised me or it delighted me was that this could be virtual. Like we could do this thing. And then on the flip side, as I'm sitting through these webinars, I get to the end of it and I'm like, this is 90 minutes. People are still here. This is kind of dry. And so the first time, this is a total contrast to how you present online, how you present in person. Because the first time I met you in person. Right. I'm going to stand up for the folks that are watching the video. But I think Colin stood up and he like had us all. Yeah, this little thing, for those of you that can't see it and are listening, he had us all stand up and stick our butt out to the back. And then I don't. What was that all about? Why do we have to do that?

Well, because I think because I'd done literally thousands of hours on stage, energy management was something I was acutely aware of. And I feel like people who are naturally digital marketers don't understand energy management. And so. And I even watch a lot of natural digital marketers running these full day Mastermind events now and so forth. And all they do is just talk the whole time and get people to sit in their seat. And I'm like, even on a virtual experience like that, you need to get people up, you need to get people moving. Like, because it was all about energy management and breaking people's state.

Yes. So the energy management you take, I mean, obviously in a room. Collin manages the energy of a room, engages people, connects with people. This is one of the things. As I was preparing for this conversation with Colin, I was thinking about the first time I presented, like really presented. I'd done like little Mastermind workshop stuff and no big deal, but the first time I presented, I'm like, okay, Colin's gonna be in the room. It's gonna be fun. I've gotta be engaging. It's gonna be good. Cause the pro is there. And then I don't. I've never told you this before. So this was before I moved to Ethiopia. Right before I moved. So this was over. This was two years ago now, almost two years ago. And my, the time that I was presenting this little workshop thing, this isn't like a, this wasn't a big deal thing, but the time that I was presenting got moved around a little bit. The schedule got adjusted, and the lights in the room, I don't know if you noticed this, but they were like this little bluish. They had a hue. They had a unique hue. And then afterwards, somebody said there may have also been carbon monoxide poisoning happening. But whatever was happening between the lights and potential carbon monoxide poisoning, I was starting to get a migraine, and I'm like, I can't really think. Okay. Okay. Like, how am I gonna. Great. Colleagues, peers. I've never told this story. Well, I did tell it to. I'm like, I just. I'm getting a migra. I didn't tie it all, like, tie all this together. But as I'm preparing for speaking in front of people I really respect, and I was excited for this, like, fudge. Different word was actually going through my head. I'm getting a flipping migraine. So I was a little bit bummed about that moment.

Your whole, like, sensory awareness goes on overload when you go to speak.

Yeah.

It's very vulnerable on a stage. And that whole idea of, like, imagine the audience without their clothes on is the dumbest idea ever, because you're the one without any clothes on.

You're standing up there pretty stinking naked.

And so it's like everything is amplified.

Yeah.

And so whether it be lights or noticing little sounds or temperature, and a lot of the time, your temperature is warmer than everyone else in the audience because you've got a lot more adrenaline going through your body and so forth. And. Yeah, I totally. And that's why, you know, preparation when you're getting to speak is so important, because your brain, I mean, the neuroscience of it, say we can Only consciously process 7 chunks of information at a time.

Yeah.

And when you're speaking on a. Even a webinar, if. If you're worrying about the Internet connection and you're worrying about your phone beeping and someone's walking by, you know, that's three chunks of information. And then if you're trying to still understand what you're saying on your content, and then you've got people's chat going through as well. There's like, 50 chunks of information coming at you. And that's why people get overloaded, because they aren't prepared properly in their content.

In the content. Yeah. And because if we can manage, like, oh, I can manage a ding, like, turn that off. No problem. Like, we're. We're multitaskers. We can handle a lot. However, right. When you get, like, oh, But I don't really know what I'm gonna say. Oh, what's my strategy? What's my plan here? To transition from core content to invitation to this working experience. You don't have a game plan for that, and you haven't practiced it.

Like, oh, boy, 100%. And it's kind of like you have to connect your brain to your mouth.

Yeah.

Because what tends to happen is people have this idea about what they're going to say, and they get up there and it comes out completely the opposite. Or they. Or they completely forget what they were supposed to say because they haven't made that neurological connection between the brain and the mouth. Which part of that is just one of the things I always recommend people to do is. Is, like, practice the whole thing at least three times. And so, because, like, physiologically, you have to connect your mind to your mouth. It's like a. It's, you know, it's kind of like plugging in, you know, an electricity cord to a lamp, so you have to plug it in for the electricity to flow and run. And a lot of the times, if it's not. If it's in practice, it's not plugged in.

Mm. So good. So this is incredible energy management. Right. Stepping into speaking wherever you're speaking, and being prepared. But what are we preparing? So, in many instances, and for everyone that's listening on the Right On Time podcast, many of us, we're speaking with a goal of inviting people to work with us. Right. Or we're also speaking in many instances, to train and educate and facilitate learning for and with our clients. So that's a piece of oftentimes of all speaking. Would you agree, or would you look at these separately?

Yeah, for me, there's usually three types of presentations that I help people with. There's what we call a sharp sell. So a sharp sell is essentially a speech on a webinar or a live video or live keynote that the goal is to get clients. So it has to be designed with that goal in mind. And it's not about. It's not a sales pitch. It's about providing content that shifts people's perspective of their world so that they're ready to make a more committed decision to the outcome that you can help them with. And so that's called a sharp sell. The second one is the soft sell. The soft sell is usually like a content upgrade, like a PDF or something like that to get people's details.

Yeah.

And the last one is the no sell. And so that's like A classic keynote. And a lot of the time that's a lot more practical. You'll give more, you know, how tos and so forth. And then there's no offer on the end of it. But if you do the right thing, you'll have people coming up to you going, how do I work with you? Yeah, seriously, how do I. I remember I spoke recently when we had live events a little while back, and it was a no sell. I didn't even do a soft sell offer. And I literally had a woman run up to me at the end, give me her physical credit card, and she goes, colin, I don't know what you sell because I hadn't mentioned what I do. She's like, how do we work together? Seriously? And first I had to give her a credit card back because I'm like, you know, I probably can't take your credit card with me, but that would be a really good outcome. I think you're doing your job well. If they come up and they loved your presentation so much, but they also want to work with you.

Yeah, that's a great example. That's my favorite in any conversation. And any invitation, if they beat you to it, like, if they're offering you the invite, that's a win. So we've got the sharp sell, the soft sell, and the no sell. Which one is the most effective? If we're talking about virtual sales, webinars, mini webinars, challenges with an invitation at the end. Where should we focus in on if we want to invite people to work with us virtually?

Well, I think if it's your webinar or your challenge, it's a sharp sell.

Okay, Sharp.

So that is a direct. Hey, it's. This is the offer at the end. But this is the mistake that people make is that they separate their offer from their content.

Yeah.

So they think that this is what they do. They go, okay, I've got this webinar coming up. What's some really helpful content that I can give people? What's some really cool stuff that I know around my topic that aligns with what I'm talking about? And then they go, how can I just bang my offer on the end? And so it's separate. Right. And so really what it's about is the concept, I call it is called infusion selling. And infusion selling is this idea of. Imagine your whole presentation is like this bucket of water or water.

And nice job with the American accent.

Water. Water. It's water. I remember when I was on the plane coming over here and I said, do you have any water? And, you know, the hostess looks at me, and she had no clue what I was saying. And I thought she just needed me to say it louder. So I said, the water. And she's, like, just looking more and more confused. And then I realized I had to say water. And I think I was saying, like, H2O or, like, you know, aqua. Like, I didn't know what was going on. We got there. We got there eventually. The same as beer. If I say beer or beer. When I first came here, I said, do you have any beer? And they're like, they had no idea what was going on.

Wait, I'm gonna try beer. Beer.

Yeah, that's right.

I did it.

You got it.

That's tricky. In Ethiopia, they have something called ambo. I say ambo, but when I would say ambo, it's just a sparkling water. It's super bubbly. It's got extra, extra sizzle. It's made in Ethiopia. Actually, it's probably only available in Ethiopia. And when I say ambo. Ambo, what is she talking about? Like, no, it's only made here. It's not like a foreign word. And I think I was supposed to be saying ambo, but it's a huge difference. Ambo. Ambo.

Big ambo. It's so true. All those nuances. I've had to. I've definitely added some tweaking to my language. And, yeah, it's. It's. It's. That's a whole nother journey.

And on sharp selling. Speaking of tweaking, I totally used to do that where I would have this great content. And then I get to the end, I'm like, and by the way, I wanted to invite you to this other thing.

Yeah. And it was. And people are like, what? What's going on? What's happening? Everyone gets awkward. They're feeling awkward, Uncomfortable.

Yeah.

And people like, what is this? How come you're selling to us? Like, people get, like, funny about it.

Yeah. And it is. It's weird. And I. The analogy I use now is it's like you show up to a party without an invite, without a conversation, or letting them know you're coming or without. You just arrived, and you're like, I'm here. Okay. Like, maybe it's okay that you're here.

And then you start handing out business cards.

Yeah.

It just doesn't work.

Exactly. Or you walk in and you start telling some story, and everybody looks awkward. Okay. We'll adjust, we'll adapt, but you're not going to get the result that you want by any means, but when you can be strategic and design and experience for people. And I think that's the other thing that's really cool with what you do. You've actually spoken in our plan a thon a couple of times. The annual planning event for entrepreneurs. If you haven't been yet, you've got to join us.

That's amazing.

It's so much fun. And Colin, the first one ever, you participated in. I remember it so clearly because you started unlike any other and you started with a story. I'm like, woo. I watched them all before we actually, you know, we actually go live with them. And like, where's Colin going with this? Like, I didn't really know, but it was different than, right, just arriving at the party because I was totally intrigued and pulled in and knew something was coming. So how do you create experiences and use this infusion selling and pull people in and still accomplish the goal of like, we can get some good stuff done in the work we're gonna do together, right. Get down to business, but also create this incredible story connection experience for people?

Well, I mean, to finish off the metaphor of the infusion, it's your speech, your challenge, whatever you've got is a bucket of water and you have to drop a, a colored dye in that water. And the goal is for them to experience your presentation. And almost like, it's almost like they don't even know that they're shifting towards making it a new level of commitment in what you can help them with. So it just, it feels so comfortable, it feels so natural in how it happens. And how that works is to get to your question is you use infusion selling. So there's nine infusion selling strategies that I teach. One of them is signature stories that sell. And so I started off with that story because that story, first of all, most people think that their signature story is about credibility and connection. So they go, I'm telling my story because I want to connect with the audience because apparently stories are engaging, so that's why I tell a story. And then secondly, I want to have some credibility so that people listen to me. You know, they've got to know that I'm good at what I do. Yeah, right. And that totally misses the whole point of a signature story.

Do you think that we do that more in the online space in America than it is done in other places, or do you think it's just more.

I think that's across the board. I found that across the everywhere.

Okay.

Because it Ties back to our human beings. Insecurity of being enough.

Like I've got to prove myself, like I know what I'm doing, listen. Yeah.

And that's not what a signature story should be about. So the purpose of a signature story that sells, and this is the difference between a normal signature story and a infusion selling signature story, is that a signature story that sells. The main purpose of it is, is to share your story in a way where the audience forgets that they're listening to your story and they see themselves, themselves in your story. That's the first part of it. And the second part of it is that at the end of your story, the main goal is to transfer one belief. It's one belief that if they can take that on, it's called the core epiphany or the core premise, that if they take on that belief that will help them to make a greater commitment to themselves in the area that you can help them with. I think it comes back to this idea that a lot of people say to me, they say, colin, I don't know what my story is.

Yeah.

And so there are some specific processes that I will take people through eventually on this session is that like they can discover where those pivotal moments were and then you tie them back to what you actually want to say.

I think that's actually what you asked me. I was saying like, I've got this life experience, go. It's a huge part of my story. Where do I start? And you're like, well, give me an example. And I went to this bus story.

Which is, I mean, it's very emotive. It's a highly emotive story, which is fantastic because emotion transfers belief. Can I give you an example? Can I? Yeah. So I mean, I remember the first time that I ran my first online presentation. And so what it was, it was a three part video series. And it was at this point that to be honest, I knew I needed to make a change in my life in terms of how I was running my business. And I, and I studied, I'd learn a few things. And I remember doing this three part video series and I had 600 people go through it and I was, I was predicting all these results and I was like, oh my gosh, this is going to be incredible. And one person bought. And I remember being so disappointed about the whole experience and the money that I'd spent and all of this sort of stuff. And I was like, maybe this doesn't work, this is ridiculous. And I just didn't enjoy the experience eventually, at that point. And so then I just decided to get obsessed. I was like, I have to learn how to not just speak, to entertain. Because that's what I realized I did because I got great feedback. People wrote emails going, colin, this is an incredible presentation. I got so much value. And I was like, awesome. And then I was like, I've got to learn how to speak in a way that, yes, gets entertainment and enjoyment, but also for the right person, leads to them making a decision on the next level. And so I got obsessed. And that was when I started traveling to the US and spent a huge amount of money, sat under some of the biggest, greatest thought leaders of our time on this area. And I never forget sitting on my chair at home running my first webinar when I had a number of people online. And at the end, I opened to my program at the time. This was a productivity program at the time, by the way, I didn't even have self from Stage Academy. And I. And I remember doing $5,000 on that webinar and looking at it going, my gosh. Because that was about my keynote fee at the time. And I was like, wow, I just did. Sitting at home, just did $5,000 in an hour. And then I remember, like, tweaking and adjusting it. And then several months later, I did a $20,000 webinar. And I'm just. And I was like, oh, my gosh. And then I remember I was probably about a year Later, I did $100,000 webinar. And. And then that just, like, blew my mind that you could literally make more than someone's, you know, the average American wage in a frigging hour. And it just blew my mind. And that was when I had this realization that you dial in one good signature talk and your entire life can change.

Now, I think people might have been listening because we teed them up for that example, but that was fantastic. Right? An example that people are looking for. Right. Yes, I have tried a webinar before, or I've been on a webinar. And yes, I've sold a program. Right. I was thinking myself, yep, totally been there. I've sold a program that nobody but or two people.

You did better than me.

And then. Right. I wanted to become obsessed. Like, I'm going to make this online thing work. Been there, but. And even if you're not there where you've made it work yet, if you're not on the other side of that story, you can relate. Like, yeah, I'm interested. I'm intrigued okay, I'm going to get obsessed. And then you move into the like, I'm on the other side now.

So that's the journey. Because everyone listening here needs that signature story. Now that's one of about four, I've got about four signature stories specifically around the idea of, of speaking and selling on a stage. So virtual or a live stage. So depending on the context, I'll pull out a different story.

So good.

So, and so your audience needs that. They need a signature story that they can share. Like literally just someone says, hey, can you tell us about your journey? And you should be not thinking, oh, let me share my life story. That's not the answer to that question, like on a podcast. And someone says, hey, tell me about how you got into this. Your, your answer shouldn't be, you tell them your life story, your answer should, boom, signature story straight there. And as soon as you tell that, everyone listening is going to be going, okay, how do I get that result?

Yeah, exactly.

Which is an infusion selling technique. Now what's powerful about story is people. First of all, they don't listen to your story, they listen to their story in your story. Secondly, their conscious mind completely turns off and their unconscious mind comes, comes forward and unco. When your unconscious mind comes forward, that's when you, that's when you are most kind of open to change. Yeah. And then, and then thirdly, it transfers belief and store. That's why stories transfer belief in cultures.

Yeah. So true. And change happens. I love that how you said it happens in the heart. It's like mentally, yes, we have to logistically navigate and check some boxes. But true change and the change that people want to make is happening in the heart. So we've got if you can tap into that through the emotion that you just moved us through and you move us through every time you talk in the plan a thon. And you've got some new stuff coming up that we're going to share. Every single time there is an adjustment and every single time I talk to calm like, yes, I've got more work to do. More work to do.

So good.

It gets dialed in. I'm so excited about what you have coming up. So Colin, as we are here today and people are thinking about, oh yeah, I gotta work on my story. Because we hear all the time you need a story, you need pull story through. Story creates change for people. Story's gonna help you sell. What is the number one thing people should be thinking about is they're like, alright, I'm gonna start. I'M gonna get to work on my signature story. I'm gonna get to work on this. What do we need to start thinking about?

Well, I think the first thing you need to think about is what's the belief that the audience needs to have to commit to your. Yes, your program, but just commit to the vehicle that you help people with. And so once you start at that, then you can actually go back and go, when throughout my life have I experienced that? And so that's kind of one of the first parts of about, you know, four or five steps. But I think if you start there, that will help you to get a little bit of momentum, a little bit of momentum towards that.

So what's the belief that my audience needs to commit to? For example? I. My audience needs to believe that it's possible for them to have freedom in their business or through their business. Yeah. Okay.

Through. Through systemization or whatever it is like for you, like you teach. Tell me if I'm wrong. But it's like essentially it's. You become the productivity systemization. Your business works for you.

Yeah.

So when you're opening up your signature story, it's a journey of where you made that decision to really implement that. And then the result of that.

So good. So good. And how do you tie to that? Right. That belief, the aspirational side of it. Right. Does that come as you're talking about your story? The aspirational side of. I want to get there. Right. I guess that's the belief. Like, I can do that. That's where the aspiration comes in. I can get there. I can do that. I believe that I can do that.

Yes. Well, this is the big thing that most people get wrong when they try to sell on a online stage or webinar. They think that their audience needs all the how to. And so that's where they come up with the information based. I call it an information based webinar or a decision based webinar. And so they think their audience needs all the how to, but the problem is, is that their audience can actually find, you know, a lot of how to through general research. And if, if they needed that, they would have already found it. They don't need it. What they need is a greater level of commitment. Yeah, that's actually what they need. And a good speaker gives their audience some actions to do. A great speaker gets their audience to shift their thinking and their heart to so much degree that they have a. It's like an earthquake happens inside of them. And then from that commitment, then everything Changes in their life. Does that make sense? And so it's kind of like this. Like, Amber, you know, you're incredible at what you do. You're a market leader at what you do. You've probably had a lot of people say, can I pick your brain? Right? And probably a lot of your listeners have said, you know, or have had that happen to them if you've become an expert in your field. And so what we do, because we're like, we want to help. We go out. We share everything, right? We like, you got to do this. You got to do this. You got to do this. And we, like, give them everything. This is especially early in our business.

Exactly. Early in the business. Then we realize, oh, no, no, no, that's not gonna work.

So we get. But we give them everything. We give them the fire hose, so they're drinking from the fire hose. Then we see that person, like, two months later, and we're like, how'd you go? How'd you go with everything I told you? Like, every single thing I told you? And they're like, I haven't really done anything. I haven't got around to it. Because they didn't need all that information. What they needed was a greater level of commitment. And I know for me, even for us moving to the U.S. i probably spent a year and a half, two years researching about how to move to the U.S. different visas and different pathways and all the different nuances. I went on YouTube, I searched Google, talked to friends. Excuse me. Who'd done it, DM'd people. I'm doing all this research. Do you know how much happened? Nothing. Do you know how much clarity I got? Less clarity. I actually got more confused. Yeah. And then what happened? I was like, you know what? Enough's enough. I'm going to hire an international business consultant that knows how to do this. I hired them. It was like an immigration consultant. And literally within. It was under six months.

It was rapid.

Like, it was so quick, wasn't it? Do you remember I announced it in New York or something, and I was like, it was the next quarter.

Yeah. You were what? What? You moved. You're here.

Yeah.

I was so jealous.

I landed two days before the event that. That we saw each other again at. And so it was. Honestly, it was. The whole process took under six months. My feet hit American soil, and I'm like, incredible. It happened because. Not because I did more researching. It happened because I made a decision, a full commitment, and I just followed a success path that worked, and that's how People become incredible at what they do. They follow a success path with a congruent decision.

Yeah. So good. You commit, you decide, and you follow the path. And I firmly believe business is not one size fits all. Right. There's a success path that we will follow, but we're going to weave in our experiences and our energy, and Colin's going to stand up there and make us stick our butt out and wiggle that around. I'm going to do something different. I'm going to make you stretch your arms out and open up. But you're still. There's a path that we can follow and learn from that's going to help us learn and figure out, like, oh, that works for me. That didn't. That's perfect. Perfect. Good. Okay. Like, let's learn from those people who've gone before us because it makes it a whole lot easier.

Yeah. And that's why I love frameworks. And that's one of. One of the things that I teach and I'll teach actually in the thing coming up is how you take an idea and give people enough room to put their personality in it, but create, like, boundaries for them to run between.

Yeah, I love those. In business anywhere. I once worked with a set of presidents who did not want to create an expense plan. And they're like, no, just spend money like it's your. Like it's your own. Just tell everybody in the company to spend it like it's their own. This was not a small company. Like, guys, I. You know, I really think people need some guidelines, like, spend it like it's your own. So what were people doing? Like, people stay in the penthouse. Like, that's how I spend my money. I go to the strip club with my clients. No joke. That's how some people spend their money and run their businesses. Then they finally came around to exactly what you said. Let's just put some guardrails up to give people some guidelines and some frameworks, and there's a whole lot of wiggle room in that to get creative and make it our own. But the other thing I think. And the other thing I think frameworks allow us to do is it gives us space to focus. So, okay, this is the framework. This is what I'm going to operate in right now. Ignore everything else for a minute. You might bring in something else later. But Collins, since coming back to the States. Oh, my goodness. When I was in Ethiopia for those two years, all Facebook ads went away. All extra marketing went away because nobody was targeting Amber McHugh sitting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. But Amber McHugh in my ads. No, not even.

I'm not targeting the.

But Amber McHugh sitting in the United States, sitting in Chicago right now. And it was a couple of months in, I realized, like, oh, my ads are picking up. Okay. Like, something changed. A few weeks later, I'm like, I'm getting a whole lot of ads that I mentioned it to Shay, who I work with on my ads, and she's like, amber, you're back in the algorithm. There is so much overwhelm. There is so much opportunity for us to get overwhelmed. So frameworks like this can help us get clarity on how we can sell better, how we can market better, how we can engage better, how we can connect with our audience better. Which is why. And this is why I love our conversations and the work that you do, because it covers so many things. It's so magical. Like, oh, I'm going to connect with my. I'm going to be more engaging. I'm going to be more entertaining. And because entertainment is a little bit of a value, I don't want the boring webinar.

Yeah.

And Colin.

Same.

Oh, my gosh. I hosted a workshop. Webinar Death PI. Exactly. How many slides?

How many slides?

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Somebody pulled up a deck yesterday. I, you know, I've been known to do like, 100 and something, but somebody pulled up a deck, and it was 290. Oh, my gosh. And my slides are, like, short and sweet. A lot of pictures, little words. But this, even if they were short and sweet, 290. Really?

That's pretty solid.

A lot. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Impressive. And I did a webinar using some of our strategies just a month ago. Your strategies? Yours. And it was about a month ago.

They're yours now.

They're mine now. Thanks. And so they walk. People walked away. Best webinar, best experience ever. Best ever. Best ever. Best ever. And of course, I was a little bit like, really? Thank you. Oh, my. Really? I really brought it, though. I, like, threw, like, traditional webinar plate. I'm like, I'm gonna own this. We're gonna show up, we're gonna engage. Like, let's create an experience. And I asked my team member who was saying this. She's a little bit particular, and she's pretty honest. Like, really? Best webinar ever or best Amber webinar ever? She's like, no. Best webinar ever. Amazing. That's. Using some of these strategies. And at that point, honestly, like, this was the land that we are in now. So I can't even compare to sales. Like, that's not even what it was about for me. It was being able to connect. I mean, sales are fine, but also what it was about was being able to connect with the audience in that way and impact people positively. And when you can bring all of that together. Whoo.

Well, for me, it's kind of the framework I look at is most people either get claps or they get clients, and so they are really good at speaking. And we get a lot of people who come to us who are actually very good speakers. Like, I had a guy come to us recently, and he's a fairly well paid keynote speaker. You know, like $10,000 a keynote. And he came to me and he was like, colin, but no gig leads to another gig. And he's like, and I've never sold a program on stage or online or anything like that. And he used the process. He actually was so funny. He texted me the other day and he was like, colin, that's it. He goes, I sat down for, like, about a weekend, and he went through the whole program, did all the exercises, and applied the whole thing, right? And he'd only ever spoken to entertain before. He did 60 grand in his first time. He delivered it. 60 grand. And he texts me on messenger and he's like, dude. He's like, colin, this stuff actually works.

You were not kidding.

Yeah. I'm like, well, are you not used to programs that work? What's going on, Gary? And he was like, it's crazy. We had another. Another woman named Beverly. She just texted me. She joined self from stage and she. Classic, you know, you know, situation of she joined. She'd done a little bit, and then she got distracted. She. She was working. She actually works for someone else as well. And she goes, colin, I've got to be honest. I haven't been the best student. I haven't done anything for a year. She said. She goes, I went in for after a year. I've done the whole program, and I applied it and I just. I just ran my webinar. She just got off it. And she said. I was like, a day after, she goes, she said, I've done $27,000 so far. And she said, I've never sold on a webinar before. She texted me like two days ago. She goes, no, I just done 50 grand from the webinar. And she's like, what the hell is this stuff, Colin? I almost feel like it's, like dangerous teaching people this stuff sometimes. I've got to make sure they've got a good program.

Exactly. Low code of conduct. Oh, my goodness. That's incredible. Those stories.

Amazing.

Yeah, congrats. Congrats to those clients too. So we've been teasing out some things, especially now as we move into this implementation space and what people are putting in action around this work. So you've got something coming up for us that I would love to invite everyone to participate in because I just started actually doing your work and I have not gotten through all of it, y'. All. So I'm still doing the work because we had a couple moves and things happening. Yeah, you've had a lot on, but I'm still going through the work and you've got something coming up that's going to help everyone. Can we talk about that?

Yeah. So we've got a free training coming up. I'm really excited about it. We only do it like once a year and it's called how to Speak and Sell on Virtual Stages. Because as everyone knows right now, you know, virtual stages are the focus. And I think that if you can dial in one great presentation on a virtual stage, you're literally your entire business can change. And I've seen it happen over and over again for people's lives and for my life. And so I'm running it. Yeah, it's a three part training series. We're going to go deep. We're going to go deep into Signature Story. We're going to go deep into infusion selling strategies. I've talked about one today, which is Signature Story. Like there are nine other ones. We're going to go into infusion selling. We're going to go into some of the big mistakes that people are making, because one of the big mistakes is that people sell at the end of their presentation and that's one of the worst things you can do. And so I'm going to talk about what that looks like in a training and how to actually do that on a. On a virtual stage. And I just think you're going to walk away. Like if you want to know how to connect with your audience through a webinar or a live video series or something like that, or even a live stage. Eventually, if you want to know how to connect with your audience and then move the right person into your program in a really congruent and effortless way, then you're going to love this, this training series. And it's free.

And it's free, baby. I am so excited about this, all of it.

Where do they get it where they.

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm going to say I'll see you there. Where? Ambermcugh.com Colin. Colin with one L. Exactly.

Yeah.

Colin with one L. Ambermcugh.com Colin. And yeah, it's gonna be fine. I'm gonna be going through it as well because I'm constantly getting nuggets out of this. And I think one of the number one things actually that I've been talking about in the last week with my clients is how do I make that transition from this is what I. This is what I got for you to the invitation to work with me. And this is going to help with all of that. And you do this. It's so smooth and it's seamless and it doesn't feel weird and awkward and it's an integrity. And this is why I love talking to you and I love talking about this and everything you do. I mean, the whole family, like, everybody. Everybody. Actually, before we go, I'm sorry, I got to bring it back around to your lovely wife. Can we just talk about her book for a minute as well?

She's amazing. She went into a bestseller category, which I was stoked with. Yeah, stoked for her. So, yeah. Boy who Stood up tall.

Is it the boy or just Boy who Stood Up Tall?

The boy. The Boy who Stood Up Tall.

The Boy who Stood Up Tall.

About courage.

About courage and resilience. And there's so much going on right now that has been top of mind for me. So, like, just in case anybody's got any little ones out there who have a lot going on, it's a great story. And she's got good stuff shaken, too. We love you, Collin, and I say we. My whole family has.

We love you guys as well, me and Lily. I'm very grateful to be in your life.

Oh, my gosh. Same. And we're going to be hanging out together and for everyone as you listen. Tag us in. Collin, where are you on Instagram?

It's just olinboyd. C O L I N B O Y D. Yes.

And I, Amber McHugh, we would love for you to tag us in. What are you implementing? What are you learning? Are you going through the speak and sell on virtual stages free training with us? We want to know. We want to support you. We want to connect with you. And I want to hear you speak. I want to see this all in action and hear your signature stories. So please follow up with us. Tag us in and watch out for us on Instagram because some of those moves that we. Colin doesn't know this yet, but as soon as we wrap up this recording, we're going to record some of those moves and we'll pop them up on our Instagram so everybody can see what we're talking about before we wrap. Collin, any final words?

I'm just excited. I mean, my intention of why I do this work is to change people's lives and to help them to reach the potential that's on their life. And so for me, that's the driver is that I just know that it just changes people's lives, and if I can help someone do that, then it makes things meaningful for me.

So beautiful. So right on time. Thank you for being here. Thank you for listening. Keep on keeping on and we'll catch you the next episode.