Marketing may not save lives, but sometimes we make a real difference

Marketing

23 Mar

Today is my day off work. But as small business owners know, we never really stop working. So when an old mate and client asked to have a meeting, I was like sure thing! Especially when that person is as cool as Warren 'The Unbreakable Farmer' Davies. I know, I'm a bit strange helping people with marketing on my day off from helping people with marketing, but when you hear his story you will get why this isn't just a job for me or him.

It's been years since we caught up in the flesh and about 6 years or so since we first met at a keynote speakers course run by our mutual mate Trav Bell, AKA The Bucket List Guy.

My first impression of Warren was that he was a 'salt of the earth' kind of guy. A dairy farmer by trade (one of the hardest professions ever), I knew he had the work ethic to be successful. But to be honest, I had some doubts about his desire to be a keynote speaker.

For starters he had no idea about starting a business, was a technology laggard and wasn't particularly good at speaking. (sorry mate!) How the hell was Trav going to turn him into a paid speaker commanding $5k for an hour?

But what he had in bucketloads was passion. If you are on a mission to make something happen you can overcome just about any obstacle, and that's exactly what he did.

Everyone pitched in to get him started. Trav helped him with his speaking knowledge and came up with his wonderful brand title of Unbreakable. At Social Star, we gave him some help with his website and a comp ticket to my e-ttraction 12 week 'Build your own Business' course, his daughter took some photos and a mate came up with his logo. We all believed in his mission. If someone is prepared to drive 3 hours to and from your course and wake up the next day at 4 am to milk cows - that's someone on a mission!

As I thought, he worked his proverbial ass off to make a full-time career from keynote speaking with some of the best in the business. He drove hundreds of kilometres to deliver his presentations in rural communities, spent countless hours talking to people in need, volunteered for many organisations and has remained as humble as ever. Bloody legend.

If you ever have the fortune of hearing his keynote you will get his full story. I really couldn't give it justice here, but it involves losing his farm, some significant and life-changing challenges and an event that crystallised his desire to help others with mental health. Just a warning, be prepared to laugh and cry in his presentations, even the blokes, in fact, especially the guys as we can relate to what he went through with his parents and kids. The guilt, the helplessness, then the resourcefulness that helped galvanise his mission to help others.

Today, I'm stoked to be working with him again to plan his next evolution in business so he can help even more people. Watch out people as he really is unbreakable and unstoppable.

Marketing might not change the world, but sometimes you get the fortune of helping people who really are.

P.S. If you are struggling please reach out to www.beyondblue.org.au for some support.

Andrew Ford

Marketing expert Andrew Ford, the founder of Social Star, has discovered the secret of ‘Powerful Branding’. With a fire for unleashing people’s inner brand and developing business models to generate profit from an individual’s passions, Andrew leverages ground-breaking digital and social media marketing techniques to create digital strategies for clients to attract maximum opportunities. Having established a strong name for himself in the field, Andrew blends traditional business techniques with now-necessary tools for entrepreneurs to achieve scale, quality, and influence in their niche. Andrew’s comprehensive business background and qualifications consist of a Bachelor of Business (Marketing) (RMIT 2003), a Graduate Certificate in Management (MBA Executive Program, University of Sydney 2005), and a Masters of Entrepreneurship and Innovation (Swinburne University 2011). Continually on the cutting edge of his own education, Andrew has tested his marketing theories in forums such as the BCG Business Strategy Competition, which he won in 2005 against all Victorian MBA schools, and the Venture Cup Business Plan Competition (Swinburne University 2003), which he won in the Masters category. With experience working at Hewlett-Packard, Sensis (Telstra) and IBM, Andrew also has mentored dozens of junior staffs to help them achieve their professional goals. Meeting and influencing high-profile public figures helped Andrew to realise just how many professionals require more understanding and control of their public brands or appearance, and need help with the skills to use the many amazing free tools at their disposal to generate success. At Social Star, Andrew consults with clients to uncover their personal brand – both where it is today and where it can be tomorrow – and refine and define how that should be displayed in social media in order to attract their perfect target audience. Andrew mentors his clients to rapidly grow their business’ audiences, resulting in larger potential client bases and higher revenue. Applying formulas that integrate over twenty years of Andrew’s business experience and fifteen years of formal business education, Social Star specialises in building clarity and velocity for clients’ brands using the ‘Understand, Build and Leverage’ methodology. ‘Having a Personal Business enables people to have an authentic, congruent connection with their valued clients and partners, using their brand as the bridge,’ says Andrew. ‘I’m highly driven to work with the new breed of entrepreneurs and small business owners – people who have a passion for making the world a better place. Traditional business models are stepping aside as people follow their innermost dreams and my role is to see them operate within their values while creating wealth. Some people think you have to sacrifice what you love to be successful in your business, yet it is actually the opposite. Follow your passion and success will come.’ Lecturing at Swinburne University from 2009 to 2011 on brand dynamics and digital marketing, presenting at numerous conferences, and consulting to hundreds of clients, Andrew has seen his philosophy work that if you follow your unique path, based on your skills, experience, values and goals, you will automatically attract the opportunities you desire and achieve the success you deserve. Living his mantra, Andrew has created a successful business and attracts high-profile clients including musicians, athletes, authors, models, entrepreneurs, professionals and small business owners, helping them find their ‘why’ in their business and fulfilment in their lives. Business for Andrew is more than work, it’s personal. Running a personal business means that he is able to fulfil all of his values rather than separating his life from work. It supports his two boys while providing social opportunities, educational development, fitness opportunities, spiritual fulfilment and many valuable friendships. Social Star has now become the vehicle for Andrew to crystallise his mission in the world, to help people love what they do, supporting his ‘why’, that if more people loved what they did, the world would be a better place.

http://www.andrewford.com.au/

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