In episode 28 of Micro Entrepreneur: the magic of thinking small, I had a great time speaking with Suzanne Dibble. Suzanne is a multi-award winning business lawyer with vast experience ranging from acting for plc’s on billion pound projects, to helping micro-businesses with their day-to-day business law requirements. She is also the creator of The Expert Authority Challenge.

This week's guest

Suzanne used to work with massive businesses – FTSE100 PLCs, huge multi-nationals, private equity backed enterprises and household names at the largest law firm in the world, but since January 2010 she has focused exclusively on helping small business owners protect and grow their business.

This means that Suzanne has a breadth of experience unlike pretty much any other lawyer in the UK. She knows the big business issues but knows what is important to small businesses and what isn’t, and will always advise you in the context of YOUR business.

The entrepreneurial spirit, ignited in me during my days working with Richard Branson and Simon Woodroffe (the founder of Yo Sushi! and the Yo brand) and many other famous entrepreneurs, now burns stronger than ever. I love taking an exciting idea and helping you turn your vision into reality.

In my spare time I love nothing better than to snuggle up with a business book or a business course – I have literally hundreds of these books and programmes that I have devoured over the years.

What we covered in the show:

What inspired Suzanne to take create the challenge - her love for 'business'
How coaches, consultants and experts struggle with these common problems:-
how to get a steady flow of clients
undercharging because you're desperate for new clients
taking on 'miserable' jobs out of fear
The simple strategies she implemented for success - being super clear on her niche and authentically leveraging the boom within the 'mumpreneur' niche
How she came up with her initial business plan, profiling and list building, and packaged her interviews and courses
The Expert Authority Challenge - a summit of experts (over 20 webinars) a Facebook group - and a real sense of community - 1,000+
Over 20 activities with a 'points system' - many experts donated courses of high value into the prize pot - 4 winners chose 3 prizes each
The 'product process, pricing and up-sell' for the Challenge
The right momentum and energy around the Challenge
Advice if you want to do something similar, including timeframes and managing the process
Making sure it's the right vehicle for your particular audience and it's a large enough audience
Working out what your passion/topic is, that will be transformational for the audience
Who your speakers will be? And knowing what you can offer them?
A bit about the technology WebinarJam (add-on for Google Hangouts), Instant Teleseminar, GoToWebinar
The great results from the challenge - and the biggest learnings (spoiler - it's all about energy)