And thats a wrap.
The curtains have come down on the Digital Circus virtual big top for another year and we just wanted to say a huge and heartfelt THANK YOU to everyone who was involved in making it such an awesome and inspiring day.
In a slight and unexpected change to the day Alan flew solo as host of the event and I think that we can all agree that the man in the yellow suit did an excellent job. A special thank you also goes to the incredible Ricky Locke for opening the day with a little bit of magic to get everybody in the right mood for the action packed adventure ahead.
To our keynote speakers Lucy, Danielle, Al, Kelly and James you were absolutely epic.
To our workshop extraordinaires...Trisha, Danielle, Adam, Matt, Vanda, Jodie, John, Zoe, Marcin and Nikie. Thank you for being so generous with your time and your expertise. The feedback so far has been so incredible like this below..
I recently attended their Big Top online event, The Digital Circus LIVE in April 2022 and came away with so much information, so many ideas and so many creative channels to head in that I feel as though the next steps in my online journey have been laid out for me like a yellow brick road.
Richard Hiron
Another clear winning part of the day was the ONLE networking zone. It was so great to see so many connections forming throughout the day. We will share some stats in another post at a later date but it was very obvious how much people valued human connection on the day. From our point of view it is wonderful to see so many people finding each other on social media and continuing the conversation!
The very immersive, wide range of talks were brilliant, as was the community environment. The length of the talks, the shortness in nature allowed for a more concise presentation of each of the topics. It was a really action packed, fun day!
Clemmie, Tape Music and Film.
The date has been set. The Digital Circus LIVE will be making its way to town again on the 28th March 2023 and we would absolutely love to see you there for another action packed day of adventure and learning. Be sure to save the date, click here to add it to your calendar. And sign up for The Yellow Tuxedo Newsletter to find out about it first. Early bird tickets will go on sale later on this year
We are also on the lookout for our next group of speakers and workshop hosts to be involved. The Digital Circus is all about digital visibility, business growth online and new opportunities. If you have something that you think might fit this ethos we would absolutely love to hear from you!
Would you be interested in speaking? Register your interest here
Power to speak is founded by the absolutely wonderful Jackie Goddard. With 25years experience of being a coach and a teacher she has worked with actors, business and charity leaders, teachers and corporate teams.
Power To Speak as a business gives you the tools to communicate confidently so that you can market yourself effectively and show up powerfully on any platform, whether you are a leader, speaker or actor. The podcast works as a platform to allow other people a voice and the opportunity to tell their story.
We were absolutely delighted when Jackie invited us both on to talk to her on the podcast. We very much respect and admire Jackie's work and it was an absolute privilege to be interviewed.
So in a slight shift from our usual conversation about digital visibility, Jackie was really interested to know more about our thoughts on personal brand. We unpicked how this works in practice for our own business and offered insights into how small businesses should feel empowered to bring more personality and creativity to their business marketing efforts.
We also talked in depth about how and why we have created Yellow Tuxedo as a business, how we work together as a couple and why our work/ life blend it the most central and important part to every single thing that we do for work.
Obviously we're biased having been guests on this podcast but we really do think it's worth a listen. Jackie has an effortless presenting style and a real knack for delving deep into the archives of her interviewees and asking considered and though provoking questions.
If you are a video consumer do be sure to hit the play button at the top of this blog post and give it a watch.
If you're more of an audio person you can listen to the full podcast here below..
https://www.podbean.com/ew/pb-fknmr-11ebc20
We would love to know what you thought about it so do get in touch and let us know!
We recently met Carlton Brunton over on social media in the standard Yellow Tuxedo fashion...via an Instagram DM! Carlton is the managing director and lead video strategist at Brunton Media, a video production company based in Salisbury, Wiltshire that works with its clients on video marketing strategy in order to create the most suitable and professional audiovisual content.
It was an absolute pleasure to be asked to take part in an episode of the Brunton Media podcast [ that currently has no name!]In this episode we talk at length on a range of topics surrounding Digital Visibility, what it is and why there is a clear difference between this and digital marketing.
But a particular highlight of the conversation was the notion that in order to create incredible stand out content for your business there are a number of hurdles that many of us have to overcome. Sometimes its the tech, sometimes it's the fear of what to create, but for so many of us its about the feeling of being uncomfortable on camera that becomes a barrier. We had a little laugh as Carlton titled this podcast With "When are you going to pull up your big girl pants?" which was quoted directly from Emilys mouth half way through the interview itself. In no way is this meant to be derogatory towards anyone struggling with feeling uncomfortable on camera but the episode is quite frank with a few "tough love" moments!
We would really encourage you to watch the episode above as its great to get both the perspective from us as digital visibility specialists and of course from Carlton, who deals with video marketing on a daily basis with his clients. But the truth is, video as part of both your long form and short form content strategy is a really smart move for your business and like anything in the beginning you're going to find things tough when you first start out. But its the muscle memory of doing things repeatedly that will help your confidence and ultimately make you less uncomfortable on camera. Hard skills can be taught. If you are not the biggest techie out there you can find someone to help you, you can learn that new skill [ cough cough...join The Digital Circus....cough cough...] and you can find a way to break that barrier. With the soft skills relating to confidence and presentation skills? Yes, you can get support for this too but ultimately this has to come from you. And it might sound like a cliché but really, the more you do, the more you'll improve and the more you'll see the direct benefit of utilising video in your marketing strategy.
We really do hope you enjoy the podcast above. And as always be sure to #besocial and head over to Brunton Media on YouTube, give their channel a little love and stalk them on social media. We're certain that they would love to chat to you!
Have fun always
Emily and Alan x
We all have our business heroes in life. For us that is Al Fawcett from Infinite Pie Thinking. We have known Al both professionally and personally for nearly 15years and he a shining example of achieving greatness by consistency.
Infinite Pie has a clear mission. To help people do stuff that matters, with people who count in places that inspire. And it rings true in every layer of how Al and Infinite Pie works.
I can definitely recommend putting The Infinite Pie Thinking podcast on your listen list if you haven't done so already. Within each episode he digs deep with his guests. He has remarkable conversations, with remarkable people from the business, sports and entertainment industries. They share their stories and perspective on their success and failures, the lessons they learned and the mindset required to continue to get better.
We were absolutely blown away when Al Fawcett asked us to be guests on the podcast. We have so many brilliant conversations "off the record" that on this occasion it just made sense to hit the record button and formalise the conversation to share with you all.
In this episode we obviously talk lots about standing out and what that means in practice for our clients, but we also go into depth about the origins of Yellow Tuxedo, why it was created and our guiding principles in business that have helped guide us to where we are today. We also take the opportunity to discuss how we work as a husband and wife team and explore why it works for us.
We are of course biased but we genuinely think that this is a great conversation and we do hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we enjoyed recording it with Al.
You can listen to the latest episode of the Infinite Pie Thinking Podcast here...
Find out more about more about Al Fawcett and Infinite Pie over on his website www.infinitepie.co.uk
P.S. Tickets for The Digital Circus LIVE 2022 go LIVE on Thursday 10th February 2022. We would love to see you there!
In the early stages of 2021 we started actively following entrepreneur Simon Squibb over on TikTok. We were absolutely fascinated by his growth on the platform with nearly half a million followers doing exactly what we always talk about here at Yellow Tuxedo, talking to his audience and sharing his adventure. There were no awkward lip sync videos, no silly dances, just him talking about his passion.
So right back in June we decided that we wanted to follow his adventure with him. We didn't know him personally and we were PRETTY sure that we were no where close to the Simon Squibb radar. There was no way that this successful entrepreneur who professed to be in the top 1% of wealthy people would know the Yellow Tuxedo name. But nonetheless we quietly decided that it would be a fabulous goal to have if he was aware of us and our business by the end of 2021. Perhaps he might say hi on one of his videos or even reply to one of our comments...
And thats what we did. We took our ethos of #besocial and said hi to Simon on the socials. We commented on his social media, we watched along live to his Livestream videos, we got involved. And when one day he actually started following our Instagram account back? We sent him a voice message to say thank you just like we do to each and every single one of our followers on the platform!
And then, back in December, realising that these people we follow are all human just like the rest of us, Alan decided to be a bit ballsy. He picked up the phone, sent a voice DM to Simon Squibb, said hi and asked him if he would like to collaborate on a short YouTube video with us. What was the answer? "Sure, why not!"
We were absolutely delighted that he agreed to speak with us and earlier this month Alan had the absolute pleasure of recording a livestream with him to hear more about his fascinating story about how he went from homeless at 15 years old and starting a gardening business to "retiring" at 40years old after having 19 businesses.
Do watch the full interview above. Simon really does have an incredible back story and we loved hearing about his Purposeful project and how he is building a 1billion dollar business in 700 days in front of the public itself.
Of course we want to share this story with you and we would really encourage you to follow Simon on social media but really todays blog post really is to encourage you all. If you have a desire, a goal, a target, big or small you can absolutely make it happen when you put the groundwork in.
A couple of things we have learned from securing the Simon Squibb interview..
1] You'll notice that even though he is HUGE over on TikTok we decided to search him out over on Instagram where he has a much smaller following. Therefore comments and messages were less likely to be drowned in a sea of other comments.
2] Get to know who you are following. Understand their work, their passion, the way in which they choose to interact with their audiences. If they go LIVE on a Friday? Be there on that Friday. Listen to what they have to say, get involved in the conversation. Leave MEANINGFUL questions and comments to stimulate the chat. STAND OUT.
3] Bloody well ask. The worst they can ever say is no and if thats the case you've not lost anything. So many people we speak to in our business use the excuse that they are not big enough yet. 'When I have X amount of followers I might..." Stop that right now. Why on earth would you wait? If you want to speak to anybody, regardless of size, stature or notoriety just ask. We are all human, you are downright amazing and they would be lucky to have the chance to speak to you too! Who knows, that next collaboration, video, podcast, blog or interview could be the tipping point for your visibility that gets you where you need to be.
It's no secret that we are HUGE lovers of Mailerlite and that we genuinely think that they are the best email marketing platform on the market. We switched over to them a years ago after struggling to find an email marketing platform that would do everything we needed at the same time as being super simple and intuitive to use. We also think that their support team could be some of the nicest, most helpful, wonderful people on the planet. So when we saw that they were running a Christmas competition we just knew that we had to enter.
Not only did we enter, we went and bagged first place!!!!!!
So what was the scope of the Christmas competition? Well..we were tasked with creating a jingle or poem all about why we love mailerlite and email marketing. This could have been written, audio or video.
And if you know us and have been following us for a while you'll know that video is where we think its at and what we feel the most comfortable with so that what's we intended to do.
Little did Emily know though that Alan had a very specific plan in place for what our entry would be. For the record Emily doesn't sing in public. EVER. Not even for drunken karaoke...So you can imagine how much she loved creating a permanent record to be plastered over the internet of her singing just to appease Alan's creative vision!!!!!!
We were absolutely delighted when the email arrived this week to tell us that we had won first prize and we look forward to sharing it with you all when it arrives in the post.
Thank you so much to Mailerlite for the Christmas fun. It really did make us smile and once again proved that content doesn't have to be complicated and that building rapport and relationships with your audience is key to winning on digital. MailerLITE really are the best email marketing platform [ and no, they don't pay us to say that!] and we will continue to recommend them to all of our clients and followers in the future.
P.S. Since our win we have cheekily asked their wonderful team to be a part of The Digital Circus LIVE on the 5th April and we are thrilled to have them as part of the 2022 line up. Make sure you are signed up to The Yellow Tuxedo Times to be one of the first to know when tickets go on sale in early February and be sure to watch their workshop on the day!
Last week we had the absolute privilege and honour of being guest on the Vocal Revolution podcast hosted by none other than The Digital Circus member Katie Rose. Within it we talked all about how we can all find our digital voice online and having the confidence to deliver our message freely, without fear of "getting it wrong".
As digital visibility specialists we love to talk about the hard skills involved with being seen and heard online and often talk about the technical aspects of digital visibility but it was so great to discuss the softer skills that we all take for granted so often.
We have always been two of Katie's biggest yellow cheerleaders and over the past year since she has joined The Digital Circus she has become such an important member to our community. She is committed to showing up, learning more and helping to raise up the other members within our circus family.
Described by The Guardian as a 'fine singer' and fROOTs Magazine as an 'eye and ear opener', Katie Rose loves singing and helping people sing. Committed to making the wellbeing benefits of singing accessible and inclusive, Katie leads choirs in community settings across London including hospitals, hospices and carers centres. Passionate about the power of song to make waves in the world, she has directed mass choral events including Sing for Water, fundraising for WaterAid and Festival of Peace Croydon in partnership with London Mozart Players. As a coach with 20 years experience, Katie brings a unique, holistic approach to voice work, helping individuals to unlock the power, joy & magic of their true voice.
The Vocal revolution podcast is certainly worth being in everyones ears. If you haven't yet given it a listen we strongly recommend that you go and put it on your listen list [and not just our episode of finding your digital voice!] . It is a project she is working on that is actively looks to explore the power of voice both personally and collectively and is filled with stories and conversations from the worlds leading vocal activists.
And for those of you who don't know, Katie also released an album in the latter part of 2021 and we were fortunate enough to attend the album launch virtually. Its such an incredible piece of work and you can download Flame- by Katie Rose here.
Please do give The Vocal Revolution podcast a listen. It was such an enjoyable interview that we loved being a part of. And of course if you have any questions about any of the points we raised within the conversation about finding your digital voice you can always drop us a line and we would be more than happy to chat.
We are super excited to be joining forces with Jodie Newman from The Business Allotment to bring you something extremely blimmin exciting..
- Launching at 12 Noon on Monday 22nd November -
Virtual Assistants save their clients time. Social VAs grow their clients’ businesses. How? By becoming a social storyteller and helping their clients grow their social audience and create more business for them.
~
The Social VA programme has been designed specifically for Virtual Assistants who manage or would like to manage content on behalf of their clients. The sessions give virtual assistants a toolkit of ideas, strategies, practical approaches and templates to help them be social. The learning can be applied straight back into the virtual assistants business, as well as become part of a genuinely effective social content service for their clients.
To be one of the first Virtual Assistants to find out about this exciting programme at launch and to take advantage of the early bird discount that will be on offer, just complete this form..
Yellow Tuxedo, well you're on our website. We're Emily and Alan Braithwaite and we're Digital Visibility Specialists. You can find out more, right here:
Jodie Newman from The Business Allotment.
The Business Allotment is a place where businesses grow through ideas, strategy and support.
Please Note: By joining this list you'll also be added to The Business Allotment and Yellow Tuxedo email lists. Don't worry though, we really don't spam and only send out information chocked full of stuff to help you grow your brands and businesses.
Episode 6 was recorded and published in the summer of 2021... Below are the show notes from the episode and the episode to watch or listen to. Enjoy...
We thought we’d have a chat about being a Dad this week… Ricky’s going to become a dad soon and Matt & Alan have a few between them, so a chat about parenthood and what it is like to be a Dad made total sense..
This is The 3 Men and Podcast, Podcast, one of the top podcasts to listen to in 2021, it literally is one of the best podcasts EVER...
In each episode of The 3 Men And Podcast, one of us takes the hosts chairs and ambushes the other two with a topic that usually they have no idea about.. In episode 6 it’s ‘What is it like to be a Dad?’ and the 3 men share some of their answers with you as the conversation makes its usual twists and turns as they try to stay on topic and finish the season with an epic quiz that once was shared on BBC Radio 1…
In this episode… The season finale…
Or listen to it on your favourite podcast platform via this link
As always, thank you so much for reading, watching and listening and have fun always.
When they’re not recording The 3 Men and Podcast, they are all extremely serious business owners who regularly make dreams come true for all of their clients…
You can find them all right here..
https://www.instagram.com/saleschange/
https://www.instagram.com/rickylockemagic/
https://www.yellowtuxedo.co.uk
https://www.instagram.com/yellowtuxedo/
http://www.youtube.com/c/YellowTuxedo
Episode 5 was recorded and published in the summer of 2021... Below are the show notes from the episode and the episode to watch or listen to. Enjoy...
What were your favourite toys? In hindsight what were our favourites toys. My favourite toys..
This is The 3 Men and Podcast, Podcast, one of the top podcasts to listen to in 2021, it literally is one of the best podcasts EVER...
In each episode of The 3 Men And Podcast, one of us takes the hosts chairs and ambushes the other two with a topic that usually they have no idea about..
In episode 5 it’s ‘My favourite toys…’ and the 3 men share some of their answers with you as the conversation makes its usual twists and turns as they try to stay on topic.. What were your favourite toys? Did you collect them? Do you still have a collection? We’d love to know..
In this episode… Who knows!! It’s a proper twisty turny one that has some of this…
Or listen to it on your favourite podcast platform via this link
As always, thank you so much for reading, watching and listening and have fun always.
When they’re not recording The 3 Men and Podcast, they are all extremely serious business owners who regularly make dreams come true for all of their clients…
You can find them all right here..
https://www.instagram.com/saleschange/
https://www.instagram.com/rickylockemagic/
https://www.yellowtuxedo.co.uk