We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Pat Miller. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Pat below.
Pat, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?
On March 17, 2020, I walk into my living room to find my wife, terrified. There was a newscast on TV about the NBA canceling its season and Tom Hanks being sick with COVID-19, a new virus that almost nobody had heard of. The Pandemic had begun.
Initially, we thought about our kids and family and wondered how we could protect them. Next, we looked at our income. We both own small businesses. I am a small business consultant and she is a photographer. As in-person events were banned, the entire small business universe came to a halt. It seemed like we were all alone.
Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, I worked as a radio broadcaster, programmer, and marketing executive. I had over 20 years’ experience reacting and taking a leadership position when things got weird: tornadoes, floods, breaking news. My instincts led me to launch a daily live Zoom call on March 18, 2020, for my small business network called “Small Business Rally Point.” The daily call was designed to share information, what we were hearing and what we were feeling at that moment. Besides interviewing health leaders and government officials, we also had personal conversations about our businesses and what we needed to do to stay afloat. Participants were asked to show up, be positive, and share what they heard.
As I hosted these calls for 90 days, an interesting culture developed. The group rallied from a place of abundance – competitors helped one another and awkward networking moments became one-on-one calls to share resources. As a result of the group’s positive vibe and inclusive nature, its size and influence grew.
One day, someone congratulated me on launching a small business community. The idea that this supportive, engaged and caring group of people could be the next step in my professional career never occurred to me. The Idea Collective was founded on June 1, 2020.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
About Me: I thought I would spend my entire career in radio. I attended college for it and moved all over the country working for sports teams, concert tours, and big advertisers. Radio’s purpose is to entertain and engage your listeners by making them feel special. In 2018, I started my small business based on my broadcast training and experience. My goal is to help small businesses identify their niche and relentlessly pursue a focused audience of consumers, my secret to radio success. With my business, I’ve hosted countless podcasts, events, and Zoom calls, and now I get to host the Idea Collective. I’m also developing my own show, the Pat Miller Show. During the show, entrepreneurs get one-on-one brainstorming sessions to help grow their businesses.
In my free time, I enjoy playing golf, hitting the gym, cheering on the Chicago Bears, and dreaming about my next trip to Las Vegas. I am happily married to Abbie and we have two teenage children in Wauwatosa, WI (a suburb of Milwaukee).
Service: Running a small business can be lonely and hard. It is especially true for solopreneurs and business owners looking to scale. As a business owner, there is so much you don’t know and so many things to do OUTSIDE of your core product. How do you get the help you need? Where do you find other small business owners who feel the same way? While there are many places to “network” for business, the Idea Collective allows you to CONNECT with others who understand your journey and will help you. Over 40 hours of business meetings and support events are offered by this international community of entrepreneurs each month, covering everything from operations and finance to sales and marketing. With the information comes a thriving community driven by gratitude, positivity, and the desire to help everyone succeed. Each year, the group hosts events, brainstorming sessions, mastermind sessions, classes, and an in-person retreat. Mel Robbins was the keynote speaker last year, and this year it will be Profit First author Mike Michalowicz.
What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?
In the Idea Collective Community, you will find people who will listen, give, and support you when you need it. As the leader of the group, it is imperative for me to “Walk the Walk.” This means I need to give and support as many people as possible in order to grow the community and serve more people. Scaling sometimes requires doing “unscalable” activities. As of right now, that activity includes regular one-on-one meetings, group events, and recording my podcast. When you show up every day, all the time focused on serving and helping others, you will build a reputation for helping others grow. For the Idea Collective to go as far as it can, I must consistently serve AND model the behavior so everyone knows this isn’t just another business group. We are a community that wins together, supports one another, and celebrates one another’s accomplishments.
This consistent behavior inspires current members to share the group with their colleagues who yearn for the support. It also helps the group differentiate from the other networking groups and referral farms that seek the attention of small business owners.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
In April 2021, I believed our online community, the Idea Collective, was on to something. But I knew that if we got the group together in person, we could cement our relationship and create something special. So, in the midst of the pandemic, I booked a 4-star hotel, organized a ridiculous list of keynote speakers, and launched our first-ever Retreat for Small Business Owners. With 4 months to the event, we were about 70% of the way to our break even goal from sponsors and members.
We cut off our “Early Bird” ticket price three months before the event and EVERYTHING stopped. In 30 days, we didn’t sell a single thing. The only way my event could break even was to sell sponsorships and tickets. I did not have any financial backing. Those 30 days were torture. As a result, I stopped eating right, my sleep was messed up, and I began researching cancellation clauses and worst case scenarios.
Several tickets sold two months before the event, and another handful moved in the last month. In reality, I was walking into an event with a guarantee that I would lose tens of thousands of dollars. So, what is the plan?
I received some great advice from my business coach. If you make them feel like their sacrifice and time was a disappointment, you will fail the 100 people who are taking a weekend off from their lives to attend your event. The show had to be put on, the audience had to be engaged, and it had to be a special occasion.
Our event went ahead with two great keynote speakers: Mel Robbins and Jesse Cole of the Savannah Bananas.
I’ll tell you something. It was a great event. Our community members bonded in exactly the way I had hoped.
It hurt the business, but it also opened up a new business line for my community, as everyone who attended vowed to return in 2022. Looking back on the flow of events, it’s easy to see that it was an expensive investment. But, live events will serve the business for years to come. Our 2022 Retreat is selling well, and we’re looking forward to a great year: https://www.smallbizretreat.com/
All in all, I was already bald, so I never lost my hair, so that’s a bonus.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.ideacollectiveincubator.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ideacollective
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jpatmiller/
- Other: Pat Miller Show – https://www.patmillershow.com Idea Collective Retreat – https://www.smallbizretreat.com
Image Credits
Abbie Miller, Stories Framed Photography