By cdelprincipe@hubspot.com (Curt del Principe)

Lights dim. Sounds hush. The aerialist spins into the air. Sequins sparkle in the warm light of a followspot, and my weird little brain wonders: “What does marketing look like for a travelling circus where every other week brings a totally new market?”

When I went searching for the answer, I found, instead, one of the most genuinely profound and heartfelt conversations I’ve had in a long time.

And the reinforcement of my belief that, sometimes, the most important lessons for marketers… don’t come from marketers at all.

Kevin Venardos

Owner/Founder/Ringmaster of Venardos Circus

• Fun fact: I’m sorry, what could be a more fun fact than that he owns his own circus?!

• Claim to fame: Kevin grew his circus from a rented tent at a state fair to two touring shows delighting 45 locations across the U.S. and over 200,000 attendees!

Lesson 1: Use your dream to help others achieve theirs.

“All I owned was a significant amount of debt,” Venardos says, recounting the birth of his circus. “It started with a desire to keep working. To not have to rely on someone else thinking I was useful to keep around.”

But life had a lesson in store that would change his very motivation.

“I found this little [carnival] in Snohomish, WA. And I said, ‘Hey, let me put my little circus by your event, and don’t charge me a dime. And I’m gonna work my tail off putting as many butts into those hay bales as I possibly can.’”

It was only meant to be a shrewd business move, a way to stretch their thin budget, but something clicked into place for Venardos.

“The capacity we have to make an economic impact. Where we place the circus, there are businesses nearby. And when we’re successful, they benefit from that.”

That little lesson grew into the philosophy that underpins how Venardos thinks about his crew, his partnerships, and even his audience.

“How can you use your dream to help other people achieve theirs? When I’m not asking myself that question enough, I’m usually on the wrong track.”

Lesson 2: Invest in emotional connection.

“Every [interaction] has the opportunity for us to rob them of their joy or offer a reason to smile. Lift a weight from them or make our needs more important than theirs.”

This holds true with customers, coworkers, and collaborators alike. And it’s that consideration to which Venardos attributes the success of the show. To illustrate, he tells me about what could have been their lowest point.

“When 2020 hit, that investment of love is what carried us through the pandemic.” Social isolation could and did end a lot of live shows. Instead, “people showed up …read more

Source:: HubSpot Blog