Today I was talking to a good friend and professional colleague about our respective businesses and international training schedules. We both voiced our thoughts on how building our respective businesses took a great deal of time and application. Aside from this consideration it’s also crucial to have something more than just a retread of existing ideas.
I have previously blogged on how the market for standard NLP courses has changed in recent years. In my view the public have realised that a week’s training in NLP or coaching will not equip anyone to instantly be able to change careers and earn a reasonable living, without first putting in the time an energy demanded o any new business. I have also blogged about the quite ludicrous emergence of “marketing gurus” who make ever more exaggerated claims for their new businesses which in many instances are actually quite hilarious and just a bit tragic. This is a new level of delusion especially when some people insist that a business can promote itself only with a Facebook page, as opposed to an actual website. Such individuals omit to appreciate that although FB is a useful marketing medium, Facebook itself owns the content of any page and no remotely intelligent business owner is going to allow a third party business to have ultimate control over its online presence!

The reality of running any business is that this takes a great deal of work and dedication. Setting up a simple Word press site and blasting out posts on social media outlets is just not going to cut it! I often think about building an international business as being a bit like a touring musician. Firstly you need to be good at what you do, write your own material and be able to deliver live performances as well as create great products. This doesn’t happen overnight as many X Factor contestants have discovered, it takes application and perseverance. Secondly you have to be able to deliver a quality service at a fair price. Great musicians like great trainers and practitioners are able to create and deliver material that has universal appeal and which stands the test of time. Many of my favorite artists have been writing and releasing material over many decades and still sound great. Many of my favorite trainers and business brands have also been in business for many years and still deliver great products. In all instances they have the ability to adapt to changing markets and social ideas.
In my own travelling in the USA, Europe and Asia I have met some really talented and capable people from the world of personal change. Such individuals also all have a real work ethic and dedication to helping others. I have been running trainings for over 30 yaers and am still learning what works best! It's a fascinating life, but one that requires constant dedication and hard work. There are truly no get rich quick short cuts and I for one consider that to be a good thing!

Nick Kemp runs events in USA, UK, Asia and Europe

In recent years I have presented more and more events overseas. In this year alone I will have taken Provocative Change Works events to Japan, USA, India, Spain, Poland and Hungary with more countries coming online in 2013. All of this requires a great deal of organization and planning. Some considerations are basic common sense, but others are less obvious.
A key consideration in producing a great overseas event is to have an excellent overseas promoter, who has the skills to attract a suitable audience. I say “suitable audience” because sometimes events can be misrepresented and then the trainer finds that the expectations of the audience are totally out of synch with what the trainer is presenting! Fortunately I now have a great set of overseas hosts and the recent Japanese trip was one of the best organized events on every level, so Japan you make “the A list” for my events! The planning and communication in this last trip was excellent and at all times I felt totally comfortable despite only knowing two words of Japanese. This level of comfort means that I can 100% focus on the event and I was especially pleased with this series of events. Japan I’ll be back in 2013! Of course hosts like Steve and Connirae Andreas have been active in the world of NLP for decades and command a great deal of respect. Once gain the organization is excellent and their experience is evident. I have really enjoyed the PCW events I presented there in recent years and it was great to stay with them at their house and chat about what’s happening in the field.
Once you find a good host, the timing for creating events and booking flights is important. Some times of the year work better than others to attract attendees and of course it’s essential to buy tickets ahead of time to get good prices. I usually book flights 2 months ahead of time and of course have to factor in time to obtain visas for some trips. I have learned to get all material printed in the country I am visiting as paper handouts can make luggage seriously heavy and of course every traveler knows that when travelling “size and weight” are key considerations! When planning events awareness of different time zones is really important if you want to be in the best form when presenting to an audience. When the time difference is 8 – 9 hours it can take a few days to get the body clock in synch. Whenever I hosted Frank Farrelly in the UK, he always needed 5+ days to “straighten out his days and nights” On returning home it’s also important to have a suitable amount of downtime for reorientation back into UK time and space. It has taken six days from Japan to properly achieve this and I am now ready to see private clients.
It’s a real privilege to bring the Provocative Change Works approach to a global market and to visit so many wonderful countries. I always pack my Lumix GX1 and two camcorders to capture events and the whole experience of being in that country. I have made some great friends during my travels and seen some spectacular scenery. In two weeks’ time I’ll be in be back in New York co presenting with Doug O Brien and then later this month will be in Budapest, followed by Poland and teaching at an NLP conference in Spain. Special thanks to all my hosts and everyone who has come to these events, it’s a real privilege to be able to do this.

I’m almost back into UK time after an amazing 2 weeks in Japan. In 15 days I’ll be heading for New York to run “Stories from The Outside Inn” with Doug O Brien. On my return I’ll be doing a 2 day PCW event for an NLP Master Prac group and then heading to Budapest for a 3 day PCW training! In between I’m seeing private clients, so it’s a very busy time. In April I have Poland and Spain to visit and then after that a series of other European PCW events before heading to India.
This is a far cry from running NLP courses back in 2004 and far more creatively rewarding. I don’t regret my times teaching certificated events, but it pales into comparison with the PCW material. It’s like writing and playing your own songs rather than being a tribute band. My original NLP training has been very useful in figuring out how to decode Frank Farrelly’s work and then add in the additional elements that make so PCW quite unique. The chapter on PCW in “Innovations in NLP” gives a very basic overview of the PCW approach and of course there is a great deal more to explain, some of which is discussed on the existing PCW DVDs. Next year I already have events planned for Texas, Rochester, Japan, Austria and India and it’s a real pleasure to have so much interest in this work.
I’m working on a number of PCW products, including DVDs, new sites and of course the book. I’m very grateful to all my overseas hosts and my excellent technical team at Spartmedia without whom I couldn’t do all of this. I’m also truly grateful to Frank Farrelly without whom I would never have discovered the magic of using provocation in communication. It’s over 8 years since I first met Frank and we have spent a great deal of time together both in events and on a one to one basis. 2012 and 2013 will be key years for PCW with exciting news to be announced later this year.

On the last day in Tokyo before heading to Hiroshima Dr Sue bought a wonderful ceramic hare from a store in the city. The quality and craftsmanship was just superb and we were delighted with the purchase.  In a rush to the bullet train we realised that we had mislaid the shopping back and now it was too late to go looking for it as the train was about to depart.  This was one of those not so great moments when you wish you could turn back time, but jet lag often means that you don’t think that clearly.
The next day we rang Kimiko the event organiser to phone the store in the vague hope that someone may have handed it in. I say “vague hope” as in my experience this is pretty unlikely. To our total amazement she then told us the following story. A woman had found the shopping bag with the item in it but due to time constraints didn’t have time to hand it in, so took it home with her. She then contacted the department store the next day and they on looking at the name of the bag in which it was packed contacted the original ceramics store. She then returned the item it to the ceramics store in person. The manager of the store then unpacked it and checked it was not damaged. After speaking to our organiser they posted it onto her. Once again the hare was reunited with its true owner. This is in my experience pretty typical of the care and appreciation that we have encountered in Japan and I look forward to returning in 2013.

After the easiest check in ever at Hiroshima airport I am once again pondering on this trip. The country is a fascinating mix of very old culture and cutting edge new technology, yet nothing seems out of place. There’s a common theme that runs through architecture and design that is simply quite wonderful. My hosts here have been outstanding and I can’t think of any time when I have been better looked after either as a trainer or friend. I am also delighted at the response to the Provocative Change Works approach and am already planning some level two trainings that will be more advanced from what I have taught to date. The events have been mostly attended by medics and all of them have been amazingly open minded to the PCW material. There have also been a number of hilarious moments both inside and outside the seminars, including a waitress running down the street handing back a tip. My translator Kimiko commented “They don’t know what to do with it!”  Another wonderful moment was when I described the improvisation exercise during the workshop. There was total silence as I detailed the instructions and then a pause….I thought “Blimey, maybe this won’t fit with the culture?” What happened next was the craziest sight I have ever seen on any workshop event. All the delegates engaged in full on quite crazy improvisations that had some of the attendees literally (yes literally) rolling on the ground with laughter! I can’t imagine a more wonderful and totally surreal sight!

Today we head back to Tokyo and I plan one final assault on Tower Records. If you are reading this, it may be a good time to buy stock in the company with my new injection of income in their various stores. The selection is mind blowing and I suggest that in the future they provide beds in the store for such customers as myself to have a lie down and compose themselves in between rounds of shopping. This has been one amazing trip and we are already planning PCW events for 2013 and the first ever PCW Practitioner training.