How To Produce 1st Class Events that Strengthen Relationships with Chris Krimitsos on Episode #0111

Intro [0:00]

EA Interviews Episode 111. Inspiration, transformation, success stories, and the Imperfect Action Round seven days a week. Join Mario Fachini for today’s Expert Authority Effect Interview. 

Mario Fachini [0:00]

Have you ever wanted to produce a film? Maybe write a book? How would you like to start a podcast? Start your own show, impact thousands and thousands and thousands of lives. Maybe you want to put on an event to help tens of thousands of people. I know I have. And that’s why I’m super excited to have Chris Krimitsos here. He is the co founder and promoter of Podfest. And it was my very first event that I went to when I started Expert Authority Interviews. And I’m super excited to be bringing him up right after we thank our sponsor. He has a wealth of knowledge. He has a heart of gold. He’s a dad. He’s a husband. He is a great guy. And I couldn’t be more excited. So I’m going to bring him up right after we thank our sponsor. 

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Mario Fachini [1:27]

Here he is ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Chris Krimitsos. Chris, how are you feeling today? 

Chris Krimitsos [1:32]

I’m doing great. Thanks for having me on, Mario. 

Mario Fachini [1:34]

I’m excited to have you here. What inspired you to start all of this? Because you have a very impressive resume. And when we got connected at your main event for the year, Podfest, which is fantastic, how did you how did you get going with all of this? 

Chris Krimitsos [1:49]

I’ll share with you a short story that will kind of synopsis how I got started with. I know what you’re asking because I do a lot of creative things and they don’t necessarily all fit in a box. So when I was 13, my dad brought me into work as a dishwasher for my uncle in his New York diner. And he had me washing dishes. And if anyone doesn’t know, an industrial dishwasher is very hot and steam comes out of it. And my uncle wanted me to put my hands in the moment the steams was releasing, which would mean I would get burned. And I remember telling my uncle, I’ll wait for the steam to come out. And he would say to me, “Here we work hard and old school. You put your hands in. Your skin gets used to getting burned and that’s how we work here.” And I was like, “Wow. This is not really conducive to what I want to do.” And at the end of the day, he came up to me – my Uncle Gus is a very imposing figure especially as a young 13 year old. He gave me $50 for the day, which I remember back then I was like, “Wow, 50 bucks. I made some money.” But he followed it up with something that I’ll never forget. He said, “I don’t ever want to see you here again”. And I was like, “Well, that’s kind of mean.” And I don’t want to say what I was thinking as a kid but I remember him saying to me, he said, “I saw you talking to the customers during your lunch break. You have a gift with words. And I want you to go to school and develop that gift and let it lead you wherever it’s going to lead you. If you want to come back in this diner, I will invite you with open arms but only after you go to school. So until then, I don’t want to see you step foot again in this diner.” And it was pretty amazing. My uncle Gus, unfortunately for him, his dad, my grandfather, would not let him go to school past the age of eight years old. So he worked in the fields as a little child. And he saw something in me that I had these different gifts to develop. So I’ve developed that in helping people via community building. I’ve been able to get into the conference niche. But I wouldn’t even call it the conference niche. It’s really the community building niche and conferences are how I do it. And from that, that led to creating a documentary film to bring people together. So I love the mass media. But really the new media that allows everybody access. And I love utilizing it. And I probably love more than anything, creating a platform that helps people find their voice and puts it out to the world. So that’s kind of kind of what I’ve done most of my life. I’ve done over 2,000 events. And I just enjoy bringing people together. 

Mario Fachin [4:20]

Well, it absolutely shows. And I know I told you this day one. And I’ve been telling you at all the events I see you at. But when I went to your event, Podfest, it was my first event I had just launched to show. It was about three weeks into it. And no one was even there. I always learned come early, stay late. So I was there a day early. And I was just floating around looking at stuff. But you still had stuff going on. The first day alone, I was blown away. And I was like, “The thing didn’t even officially start yet.” But when I talked to you, you were just so welcoming and friendly. And for everyone who doesn’t know you that’s getting to know you now, I’m beyond excited, because I could sense your heart and what you wanted to do. And the more I get to know you, it just makes sense that you’re into the community building. Because you’re fantastic at it. There’s very few people who are fantastic at it. There’s a lot of people trying to do it. But who would you say you helpd? And how do you really help them? 

Chris Krimitsos [5:20]

So I mean the one thing you mentioned, we noticed that whenever we do a conference, people show up a day early. Without announcing it, we created things for the people that are day early to have something to experience. And one of the feedback, some people were like, “I wish I would have known there was things a day early.” And we don’t necessarily want to make that public because then people will show up another day early and we’ll have to be adding too much event. But we want you to succeed. We want you to connect with all these other amazing people. And I think about it every day. Even every day when I work, I try and find people that are cultural ambassadors. You, obviously, won the best dress award for our conference. And you stood out. And I just remember you were very – you felt our culture but then you paid it forward in real time, which impressed other people within the community. And when you’re in an environment like the one we created, if you just wind up helping other people quickly, you’ll make a lot of new friends because it’s a very inviting community. So early on, when I started my first conference, we realized we had to set some values. And the values were the group was called Tampa Bay Business Owners. So obviously I had to be a business owner. That was pretty evident in the name. But the three core values – and don’t get me wrong, people wanted to join that who were not business owners. We’d have to explain to them we appreciate you wanting to join. But our title is Tampa Bay Business Owners, you have to be a business owner to be part of it. But we said what are the three distinguishing values that we want and how can we keep it simple, positive mental attitude, ability to grow personally and professionally, and we were looking for people with integrity. But with the positive mental attitude, we had to figure out how do you weed out false negatives as well as false positives. I don’t know if that makes sense. So there’s some people that talk negatively but do positive things. And then there’s some people that say positive things but do negative things. So we have to be very careful who we let in the group that their actions were positive and reflective of one another. And I would scream through every single attendee. Now, I can’t do that with Podfest because it’s a different kind of conference. But that community is still built into it. So the energy actually does it for me. But think about, ten years, 21 to once a week, I got to meet just on a yearly basis close to a thousand people on a one-to-one basis for over ten years. So I got to meet a lot of people. I got to know a lot of different personality types. And the distinction I made with my life is I want to be surrounded by positive, can do, action orientated people. That actually helps me and the people around me to grow and succeed much quicker than if we’re around people that tell you what you can’t do. So it’s a defining principle in my life to surround myself with action takers. 

Mario Fachini [8:15]

Would you say you attract to you who you are not what you want? 

Chris Krimitsos [8:22]

Yeah. Yes. Yes. Whatever that underlying operating drive is, that is what you attract. You could say all you want verbally but I would agree with that statement. 

Mario Fachini [8:33]

Because what you were saying about Podfest and, obviously, the bigger the event, it’s harder to keep the restrictions on there. But I know when I’ve done my events, one of the thing was who am I looking to attract. And I had a bullet point, first and foremost, of servant’s heart. And it’s interesting because there’s – you get people who want to go but they might show up and then they realize they just – they feel it, like you said, the energy. They realize this is not where I belong. And it’s not that they don’t belong. It’s they’re not ready for it because they haven’t transitioned, in my experience. 

Chris Krimitsos [9:07]

Yeah. I know I had one person come up to a booth at another show telling me that people were too friendly. And it was not for them. They were not ready to receive that yet. And they forget, they don’t even know I’m the one that organized the event. So they’re telling me to my face that, “Yeah. It wasn’t for me. And I’ll ask what was it about it?” “Well, the people just seem too friendly, too cliquey.” And usually too cliquey means everybody was very warm. And that person was not ready to receive it. So a lot of times those people will be repelled because it’s not the energy they’re looking for. Plus, we don’t allow this. We say there’s no whine served at Podfest. In other words, there’s no whining allowed. So if someone’s whining, tell them to take it outside the room. So that kind of personality type is not attracted. It’s usually people that are looking to do great things and collaborate with other people. We just don’t have time for that. 

Mario Fachini [10:00]

That’s hilarious. I mean, what do they expect? Would you ever say, “What do you want me to do? Kick you in the throat?” 

Chris Krimitsos [10:08]

No, you know, this is something I’ve learned with time and age. I used to take that stuff very personal. Because we always bat like 900. You’re never going to bat 1000. You’re always trying to strive for a thousand. And what I learned is, I am doing my job because that person, unfortunately, was not, what you just said, they were not there yet spiritually and mentally to receive the abundance that is Podfest. Now, if someone had some critical feedback that was on point, I will listen and I will implement it. You want to implement it. But when you have someone that not only do they complain about Podfest, but in the same breath start complaining about the event they’re at and everything else around them, you realize that it’s not just you, it’s everything around them. The way they view the world might be a problem. So it’s been really important for me to take that as a lesson to understand what criticism to allow in. So Mario, you might say to me, “Hey, Chris. I love your event.” And I know truly you do. But you’d say, “Hey, you remember when you did X, Y, Z? You might want to relook at that piece.” That’s feedback I’m going to take it and be like, “Okay.” Because this is someone that I know appreciates what we do and takes it to heart. So that feedback is something I would do to implement. But when you have someone that they’re just a straight up troll, whether it’s on the internet or just in life, you cannot take that feedback to heart because you have to understand where they’re coming from. If they’re unhappy with all aspects of their life, that feedback is already tainted by the time it comes out towards you. So it’s something I had to learn because I used to take everything to heart and be so upset after an amazing event. So you got to understand where the criticism and feedback and if it’s founded or not founded. Now, I do take a lot of really great feedback and I implement it. But I also throw out the stuff that I know that people are just not happy in their own skin and they’re just lashing out. So you got to differentiate the two because that’s a really important tool for growth personally and professionally. 

Mario Fachini [12:03]

That is great Expert Authority insight. Because some people really aren’t just ready for it. And I can’t stop laughing because it’s funny to me. It’s like, everyone wants a better life. They want to do all these things. And it’s like, it’s right in front of you. And I know it’s self-sabotage. And I know we could go deeper psychologically and all this other stuff. But ultimately, I do feel bad for them and pray for them because it’s like, I can’t even wrap my head around having a worldview waking up every day when all this great stuff is happening. And there’s these opportunities. And you’re just shooting them down. I mean, to the right person, nothing can go wrong. They’ll find the positive. And the wrong person, you could have everything go great and they’ll find the negative in it. 

Chris Krimitsos [12:48]

We have a friend that just got diagnosed with cancer. It looks like a 99{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} curable. And we saw him at Panera and he told my wife, “Well, the good news is I was looking to lose weight so this is a another way for the universe helping me to lose weight.” I mean talking about positive. Now, that person, they’re good friend of ours. They still need support. But he chose to look at the bright side of something most people would be devastated. He knows he’s going to get his butt kicked by radiation chemo. But he’s looking at it like, “Okay. Well, the benefits of this is I’ll probably lose some weight on the road here while I go through this treatment. So I’m going to look forward to that.” So you know, it’s just how you look at things. 

Mario Fachini [13:30]

Yeah. It’s just about the attitude. So who would you say has been the biggest transformation you’ve been able to help so far? 

Chris Krimitsos [13:39]

I don’t look at the world that way. But there are stories, if you want to look at stories, of people that we’ve helped. This is a public one that is shared at Podfest. Gabe Aluisy, who I know has been on your show. One day we were in a mastermind group and he said, “How can I help you with Podfest?” I go, “I don’t know. I’m selling tickets.” He goes, “What If I buy a ticket and you give it to someone that needs help?” I just never thought of that. I said, “Yeah. I guess you could do that.” He goes, “You talk to people all the time that need help.” He goes, “Give it to someone that really deserves a hand up. Not a hand down.” I said, “Done.” I said to them, “Do you mind if I mention it?” And he’s like, “Well, you know, I kind of want to do private.” I go, “No. No. Let me just tell people because maybe it will start something up.” So I mentioned it at at our local group and then five people, all of a sudden, said, “We want in.” So now one person triggered five other people to take the same action. One of the people that took that was a single mother by the name of Jamie Legagneur. And she was a former radio engineer. She got one of the paid for tickets. It literally changed her life. And this is her words and she always reminds me of it. But she met Glenn The Geek. Glenn The Geek and her bonded as friends at a very deep level. And then he hired her to handle all his production. And then they started the Finding Florida Network. Glenn The Geek has the Horse Radio Network. And she has credited that Pay It Forward program to changing her life. Now, I would say I facilitated that. Gabe started it. But we never realized how big that program. Since then over a hundred people have gotten paid it forward passes. And you know what? Some people have abused it. But I have to look the other way because 99{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} of them have really needed that hand up. And it’s changed their lives like Jamie. And it’s been amazing to watch. So we’re going to keep that program going strong and help as many people as we can. Now people that have been recipients of Pay It Forward, have now bought tickets and paid it forward themselves. That’s the amazing part of the whole program. 

Mario Fachini [15:46]

That is a great story. Because I remember seeing that when I was getting my ticket. And you had highlighted – I remember the entire thing and I’m not going to share all of it because people should go to Podfest and see it for themself. And especially the other thing that happens. But I just remember experiencing it. And it was just another thing that let me know that I was in the right place and it was the right group of people. Because there were so many stories of, “Here’s what my shows done. I save someone’s life. I had this.” And it wasn’t just one or two, it was a, I’d say, upwards of 70 or 80{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} of the people that were there, all were affecting change in a positive light like that. 

Chris Krimitsos [16:33]

Yeah. We had one year where one of the attendees, she had PTSD. But not just PTSD. She had, like, brain damage from something that happened. I forgot what it was. She was a young girl. And because of that brain damage, she was definitely afraid of groups and definitely afraid of any highlighting publicly, like high anxiety. And at the end of one of the conferences, what you’re mentioning is the gratitude ceremony. That’s our closing keynote. She got up and thanked everybody. And told us this whole story which we had no clue. We just thought she was one of us. And didn’t know what she had gone through. And she spoke publicly for the first time she had tears. She had a breakthrough. And the reason is, she didn’t feel – this is the interesting thing – I know, Mario, you felt this. She felt that she was with her family. When someone feels comfortable to share like that, they’re not going up in front of a group. They’re going in front of a group of people they know and they trust. And it was pretty – I mean, you saw last year – it happens every year. That’s why we do it. We get to hear the stories that happened in the hallways and maybe you and I were in a room taking notes. Because you’re like me, take notes on everything and studying up. Meanwhile, who knows what’s going on in the other room. Someone’s life is being transformed because they got a pass and they got to be out of their house for the first time in years. It’s pretty amazing stuff. 

Mario Fachini [17:53]

Now, I want to ask you another one because I know there’s dozens and dozens. But there’s one specifically that you made an announcement at Podfest. I think this was a pretty big transformation. Do you know which one I’m talking about? 

Chris Krimitsos [18:07]

There’s a lot. So you got to just pull me in. 

Mario Fachini [18:12]

She Podcasts? 

Chris Krimitsos [18:13]

Oh, yes, yes,yes. So one of our attendees is one of the co-creators of an amazing group. And I said to her, “You really got to do your own conference. I’ll help you. Don’t worry about it. We’ll make it happen.” And she said, “Okay. Well, let’s launch a crowdfunding campaign. Well, do you think anyone will buy a ticket?” I go, “Absolutely. I know so.” And we launched it at Podfest. The group supported it. And then after Podfest, I was recovering from the fog of Podfest. And I called her up I go, “Have you been pushing this? Because I haven’t seen any movement.” She goes, “No. I’m afraid to ask. Really, you know, I don’t want to be pushy.” I go ,”No, no, no. You’re not being pushy. You’re bringing together your community.” She has a group of over 12,000 women. And Jessica started asking people. And all of a sudden we started selling tickets and we hit 100{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} ten days before the deadline. I said, “Let’s keep pushing. We hit 200{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} of goal.” And then I said to her – I did some projections. This was in like June – early June. I said, “I think if we hit it right, you have a shot at minimum 500 people. But I think we could get anywhere from 600 on up.” And she was like, “I’ll trust you. But I don’t even know how we’re going to get there.” We had sold, I think, 200 tickets. We’re halfway from 500 to 600. And she’s not worried about that. Right now, she’s worried about making sure everything’s planned as prepared for the event. So I’m grateful to tell everybody that the first ever She Podcast event is being launched. I’m proud to be part of that effort. I’m proud of Jessica and Elsie and all the hard work. But this is going to bring female content creators from all over the world together in Atlanta, Georgia. And I believe that the second year of this event will probably be doubled in size. So it’s going to be a very – I’m excited to be at the first ever. It’s going to be a very special event. 

Mario Fachini [20:07]

I am so excited for all of you. And I know you’ve been helping them with it. But I know they started a big movement also and I’ve been watching it. It’s been great. I’ll make sure there’s a link in the show notes specifically for that. Because I don’t see it going anywhere but bigger and bigger each year, like you did, for the next five years. Because they are great people as well. You mentioned Jessica and Elsie. 

Chris Krimitsos [20:31]

Yeah. They’ve been helping women all over the world for five years with their Facebook Group. So this is a way of them putting their arms around it through a live event. And for anyone listening that’s an influencer, this is something I highly recommend doing is having a live event that you could wrap your hands around your base. And a lot of people will tell me, “Well, Chris. You have, like next year, will have close to 2,000 people. How the heck are you?” I can’t do that. What they don’t realize is I started with one person staring me at the face. I had a meet up once. I put the wrong address and we had, like, two or three people show up. And then I built it off of those – I built it off of small numbers and creating relationships like the one you and I have where we’re hanging out at other conferences and talking shop. It’s building relationships. It’s not about the masses. It’s actually a one-to-one game. So if you could do that over time, your numbers will grow. But it’s really about caring about the other human being on the other side of it. 

Mario Fachini [21:27]

I agree 100{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81}. I’m thinking of a scenario myself where I just got done from speaking nationally in front of hundreds of people on stage. It was a lot of fun. I come back. I had another local speaking thing and I was expecting 30, 40, 50 people and there was six. What do you do? I go, “Awesome. We’re going to do a workshop and really dive in.” 

Chris Krimitsos [21:50]

So you got the right mindset. That’s something I tell people all the time. I had the same thing. It happens every now and then. I had two speaking bookings in one day within Tampa Bay. So I was able to drive to one. The one that was in the morning, it’s like a real estate group. I had 60, 70 people. Beautiful big room, everything like how you would want it. Everybody are like, “How do we do this or that?” And then the next one, this lady that had a cowork place, she had seen me speak. She’s like, “I like to host you, blah, blah, blah. I’ll get a lot of people.” And it was like two people plus her husband and her, were four. And that ego popped up like, “Oh, man. I just came out here and there’s only four people.” And then I reframe it immediately. We have more time to spend more quality time with four individuals and go deep. I turned out – me and the husband became really friendly. He makes the world’s best hummus. He’s Egyptian. My parents are from Greece. So I’m Greek. So we started trading recipes at the end there. But it was such a great time, honestly. Nowadays, I actually treasure smaller events because I get to really dive deep with individuals. But a lot of people will discount four people and walk away. And so when your ego gets too big for your britches, we’re all human beings. If you don’t want to do it, eventually you book around it. But if you’re there and you show up, you better deliver a show. 

Mario Fachini [23:08]

Absolutely. I agree 100{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81}. And it’s great being able to work one-on-one because it’s about that transformation. How can you impact their life? I was with someone the other night, we grabbed dinner, and they’ll be on the show in the future. I actually connected with them at Podfest. As a matter of fact, they were one of your speakers. And for like two hours, he just wanted to chat and catch up and we’re building a relationship. And we walked out, he was like, “I am blown away.” And I was on fire because I just was genuinely sharing, was having a good time, and I wasn’t holding anything back. Because five minutes of what we know can alter someone’s next six or 12 months. Why wouldn’t you share it with them? 

Chris Krimitsos [23:50]

The interesting thing, Mario, and this is something I know you’ve experienced, something magical happens at Podfest with the way people bond that it carries its way at other events. When we have booths at other events, people will group up around my booth, not to come learn. They already know about Podfest. They just feel comfortable. That’s where they start networking. And it’s interesting to watch because it’s an energy. And life is all about energy. And I’ve been very fortunate to have been in front of literally 2,000 rooms. That’s not an exaggeration. And I’ve learned now to read energy in a room. When you have that many up, you could actually read the energy. And it jumps off of people. And what I always do – this is just anyone looking to speak – look for the two or three people that are beaming bright light. That’s the only way I could say. They’re beaming energy off of them, focus on them, and then just expand on that. And then the rest of the room will feel that. It’s an amazing thing. Some people easily focus on the negative person. You don’t want to focus on that person when you’re speaking ever. 

Mario Fachini [24:55]

That is a great tip. I’m going to make sure that’s the Expert Authority insight on the show notes. I’m going to shut my mouth because I have all kinds of jokes I could get into. I’m having a blast with this. I do want to ask you – I want to go back real quick about the She Podcast. 

Chris Krimitsos [25:12]

Yes. 

Mario Fachini [25:13]

It’s a big event. I want to dive into the events a little bit. What would you say for someone listening that has never done an event in their life? Because I can put myself there. I had done dozens and dozens of speaking and helping hundreds of people over the years. But I had never done my own event. When I did my VIP book launch and I consented to 100 people, 100 food, 100 drinks, I asked for the biggest room, the hundred books. It’s a lot different when you go do, do. I’m just going to roll up here and talk to the audience and you’re responsible for it all. Versus not only do I have to do that and I’m the producer and this is all on me, whether it sinks or swims What are some things you could say for you want to launch your own event? I agree 100{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} do your own. But what should people consider? 

Chris Krimitsos [26:08]

First off, you want to consider your marketing reach. So how big of an event can you do? And most people overestimate that. In the case study of She Podcast, they underestimated it. And I was more accurate in estimating it because I already have experienced within the niche of podcasting and understanding their community. So when I was looking at their marketing reach and their relationship reach, I guesstimated minimum 500 people for first time event, which is extremely high. But remember, they were giving back and helping women all over the world for the last five years. So my guesstimate was 500. When we did the crowdfunding, we sold 200 tickets. So we were already two-fifths of the way there. Then I have a lot of tips and tools on how to get the numbers going. And it’s very simple things. But we always do airline pricing, which means every couple weeks the prices increase. We make sure everybody knows. I don’t care if it’s $5 or $10, it’s just the habit of prices are going up. People then get fear of missing out. They have to grab their seats and tickets. We’ve done at least four or five price increases since we started this. Then you have your speakers. So if you have people applying to speak, many times you’ll comp them their passes. But then you might say, “Hey. We’d really appreciate it if you share it out while you’re coming out and why you’re excited.” That will get you another sale or two, depending on the speaker, especially if you’re featuring speakers that are normally not featured but they’re really good speakers. There’s a lot of untapped talent out there. So you want to backtrack. So let’s say you’re someone that’s an influencer, in this case, which would be good for the listeners of the show. And you have a couple of people that you know you could get but you don’t know if you could get a lot. So you want to book a room for up to 100 people. And the cool thing with the room that fits up to 100 people is you can mess with the layout. You could do round table layout and that could fit 25 people, if you don’t sell 100 tickets. Theater style, where chairs are seated next to each other, is where you would fit the maximum 100. Or you could do a horseshoe shape, where you can maybe fit 35 or 40. So don’t be afraid of like, “Oh my god. I booked a room with 100 people.” You just don’t want to state that you’re going to have 100 people until you know you’re on your way to 100 people. Does that make sense? 

Mario Fachini [28:18]

Absolutely. 

Chris Krimitsos [28:21]

Because then, you could you could fit the layout for what you booked. You want to be careful of the guarantees you’re giving the hotel. There’s some hotels that need sleeping rooms, which means rooms where people stay overnight. That’s kind of my specialty. That’s where my expertise comes in because those are very big guarantees. Or you could get a local hotel, like a Hampton Inn, that’s pretty nice, has the room. They’ll give it to you for a flat fee of, maybe, 600 or 1,000. Sometimes they’ll let you bring in food even. Or they might have some vendors that they work with. But that’s not going to be a lot of money comparatively to a full on convention resort. That’s a different animal. Ad I would tell people, “Try and start where you’re most comfortable with. Control your attention.” That’s the number rule number one rule of a promoter, control your expenses. That’s where your money is actually made. Obviously, you want to sell tickets, you want to sell sponsorships, you want to do all that. But you need to negotiate up front really good expense structure. And you do that by capping your food and beverage. And you could cap it in real time. So if they need a refill, they have to come to you to sign off before they refill anything. So you could decide whether you want to put more coffee in or not. Many times a lot of people will overdo the coffee. You’re okay to serve coffee until, like, [12:00] noon or 11:00 a.m. People understand that. After that there might not be any coffee. And the reason why I use coffee as an example, a lot of people don’t know, but when you’re dealing with resorts, the coffee could go up to $150 a gallon. So usually they charge anywhere from $70 to 130 a gallon. And then they say plus, plus. Plus, plus with resort hotels is usually tourist tax, service charge, and some other tax. They have all these crazy taxes. And that’s how they fund a lot of things. Plus, plus usually means 33{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} added. So if something is 120, plus, plus means like another 40 bucks on top of that, so160 a gallon. So you have to you really have to be careful when someone says plus, plus, what that means. The common vernacular, by the way, “Oh, yeah, yeah. A hundred dollars plus, plus.” And you’re like, “Okay. What does that mean?” Just tack on 35{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} to be saved. 

Mario Fachini [30:23]

Wow. That’s fantastic. So you’d almost be better off going to a Starbucks, not even a lessor chain, if you will. Having someone fly out and bring it in. Because I mean, Starbucks is only what? $25 a gallon. 

Chris Krimitsos [30:36]

Yeah. The challenge is once you’re on a full service resort, you can’t do that. You’re contractually bided. That’s why they could charge you that money. You have to use their food and beverage and that’s how they make money. So you just have to, like I said, you have to negotiate these things up front. So you say, “Look. I want to see the menu. I want my cost capped. I want 20{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} off the menu. And I want it on this menu.” Because let’s say you’re negotiating a year out, a year later the prices have gone up by 20{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81}. And there’s a new menu. So you have to have this all in writing. 

Mario Fachini [31:05]

Wow. That’s some great insights. I mean, you can sell 100 tickets, 1,000 tickets, or whatever but it’s not how much you make, it’s how much you keep. And if you’re not keeping majority of it and there’s arbitrary $700 hammers in the contract. 

Chris Krimitsos [31:21]

Yeah. And you got to read your contracts. And this is a place where I don’t do the best job. I try and read everything but we’re so accustomed now to signing like 20 page Terms of Service without reading. When it comes to doing your own event at a big hotel, you must read your contract. We had a Pipe and Drape company, those are the companies that put up the pipe and drapes for the exhibitors. We all see those black curtains at exhibitors, that’s called pipe and drape. So they gave us a bid and, unfortunately, this was for She Podcast. I didn’t notice that they didn’t include tables with chairs. Usually that’s included in the price. Instead, it’s what they call a shell. Well, now it’s not that much extra but it’s an extra grand or two that was overlooked. More than likely, that’s what we would have probably paid if we negotiated upfront. But what the vendor did is they made their bid look cheaper when you’re comparing it to someone else. Does that make sense? And they might be including chairs and tables. So you just have to be very careful. Luckily, with Jessica, she’s phenomenal. And we both looked at, “Okay. We have 10 extra booths. We’re going to now sell those not as booths but for podcasters that want to put their materials on it for 200 or 300 bucks. We’ll put it out there. You can put your materials on a table. It’s not a man booth. Yu just put your marketing materials.” Well, we just created $2,000 or 3,000 worth of income instead of a negative. And as a promoter, you always have to look at the positive. Otherwise, you’ll get swallowed whole really quickly by dwelling on the negative. You got to move fast. 

Mario Fachini [32:51]

And I’m sure there’s a lot of people who would jump at the opportunity for 500 or less vs. 2,000, 5,000 10,000 plus. 

Chris Krimitsos [32:59]

The exhibitors have paid the premium pricing. But this is not for an exhibitor. It’s like, “Hey, show and tell. You can put your materials on a table, you know, 200 or 300 bucks.” If you’re already flying out, that’s like a gimme. But now for the organizer, we’re counteracting the costs and actually making it a profit center and get to experiment on a mistake. When before other people would just be like, “Oh, man. I’m just going to take a hit.” No. Use it to your advantage. 

Mario Fachini [33:28]

That’s a great tip. That’s a great tip. So I have one more question for you as far as, let’s talk about your movie. There’s not a lot of people that can say I produced a film. I produced a movie, What has that done for your business? And feel free to tell Expert Authority World what you’re going to do for them? I’ll make sure the link is in the show notes. 

Chris Krimitsos [33:47]

Yeah. So The Messengers, A Podcast Documentary was created in 2016. We had all these special characters coming out and it was a small group. Our podcast group was like – I don’t know -180 people at the time. But we’re like, “We have all these amazing authorities.” Like, one guy talks about horses. The other guy talks about gaming. The other lady has the biggest female podcast group and all this stuff. So I said to Niel Guilarte, a friend of mine, who was an attendee. I said, “We should make a documentary.” And he said, “Yeah. I think we could do that.” So we spent a year filming and we crowdfunded it. It hit 123{d1d47f886dfada3fbec120c845cf21cbf2de07a46032aee93c7c36510b4a5e81} of goal. And we made The Messengers, A Podcast Documentary. We got distribution out of LA. Now we’ve had it out now for a couple years. If you’re an Amazon Prime member, you could go on The Messenger, A Podcast Documentary. But Mario, I’m going to send you the link. I’ve created a Google document where someone could literally give us their email. And they’ll click a box, which says, “I give them all rights to share the movie into perpetuity for free on social media.” So we’re going to release it on international podcast day, free of charge to the world for them to share it out. And I need that email because I have to send them one email to let them know here it is. It’s being shared. And I’ll actually include the raw file. So if they can’t find it to share it, they could upload the raw file themselves. So we’re really excited about this. And I’ll probably give you the link shortly. I’ll have it done by tomorrow. But we’re excited about letting that spread. And the reason why we created it was for people to be inspired to find their message and get it out via podcasting. So we want to be in line with why we created it. Any benefits that come from that, awesome. But that’s not why we’re doing it. We’re doing that to help the medium of podcasting. And we feel if that medium grows, more people will help other people. And my job will be a success. And that’s why we got the name The Messengers. We originally focus grouped the title. And my business consultant friends said you should call it A Podcast Documentary. No one’s inspired to make something called A Podcast Documentary as a working title. So Neil said let’s go film a couple interviews and see if the name finds us. Very artistic, right? I said, “Okay, Neil. But how do I market something with no working title? How do we do anything?” So the first interview we did was Lee Silverstein of WE Have Cancer. And during the interview I said, “Lee, I don’t know what a podcaster looks like but you seem a little older than what most podcasters are. What would you consider yourself?” And he leaned in right at me and stared me right between the eyes, he goes, “I consider myself a messenger for those three words that people hear, ‘You have cancer.’ And I’m there for them.” So we broke down and I said to my director, “Neil, do you realize what just happened?” He goes, “No. Is it time for lunch?” I go, “No, man. We just got the title of the movie, The Messengers, A Podcast Documentary.” And that’s how we got the name. 

Mario Fachini [36:37]

That’s great. And I can say, I watched the whole thing. It’s a fantastic movie. And I encourage you to do the same. I will make sure there’s a link in the show notes. And could you hear that? 

Chris Krimitsos [36:55]

No. I just heard the link in the show notes. 

Mario Fachini [36:57]

Okay. I’m going to say that again. I have watched the movie myself. It’s a great movie and I encourage you to do the same. I’ll make sure there’s a link in the show notes for the form so people can sign up there and get the consent and everything. And I’ll make sure that’s put on EAInterviews.com for you. 

Chris Krimitsos [37:15]

Thank you, Mario. I really appreciate the help and support from you and your community. It’s going to be – my goal is to get a thousand people to share it. We’re asking him to share a movie that’s locked away free to help other people. So I’m hoping that the community will get behind it and share it out. 

Mario Fachini [37:33]

Well, I’m excited to promote it some more because I’m new to this. This is all new to me. So the more I’m learning and I get more excited about it. And every time I learn more, especially with you and Podfest, it just – I mean I knew at day one but it just strengthens, let’s say, ammo and the arsenal. I can speak truthfully about it because it’s fantastic. I can’t wait to go back. And I was on the site. And I’m excited about all this stuff you’re doing with it. So question for you, I’m calling this the Wheel Of Whatever Round. And we’re going to spin a wheel. It’s a virtual right now but there is the actual one in the works. And this is a little – do you want a softball question or hardball question? 

Chris Krimitsos [38:21]

Whatever you want. Hardball. 

Mario Fachini  [38:23]

Hardball. This might be a little controversial. It’s not bad though. Podcasting versus radio. Some people still go, “Oh, you have a podcast? Well, I have a radio show on XM FM AM, whatever, HHM station.” I’ve heard some people they have this air of superiority of its terrestrial. Therefore, it’s better because it’s been around. Why would you say podcasting is the future? And let’s just dive deeper with this. 

Chris Krimitsos [39:00]

Yeah. So this is an easy one to answer. Definitely podcasting over radio. Not enough from a class perspective. It’s from, literally, logical perspective. It’s on demand. I could download it when I want, how I want. I could absorb it in a plane, in a car. It doesn’t matter what geographic. I could be on an island in the middle of the Pacific listening to a podcast. I don’t need a terrestrial signal to capture that. And I don’t need to wait around. I could download it to my phone. I could find the exact content I want. It’s long form. I don’t have to be interrupted every five seconds with some kind of call letters for radio station. I mean, I could go on and on. But I just don’t see any advantage radio has over podcasts, except for people’s habits not being able to change over. And SiriusXM, I believe, was one of the first paid podcasting type things. So if you’re on SiriusXM, more power to you. It’s like being on Netflix for audio. Like people are paying to listen to it. But if you’re on some terrestrial signal and you’re going to hold that over my head, you know. If you’re Dave Ramsey and you already have an audience that’s listening, absolutely. More credit to you. You’re holding on to your audience. But he even transitioned into podcasting years ago because he knew that’s where the future was going. So I’m not necessarily – I’m a proponent for podcaster. But when the next technology comes out, I’ll be on that as well. I’m proponent where the audience is. And podcasting not only is where the audience is, but it’s where the fastest growing segment of view audience is. Whereas, radio listeners as they pass away, you lose them. Because young people are not transitioning to radio. First off, if anyone debate you on this – anyone listening to this, here’s what I want you to do. Ask them, “Where do you download your music from?” I could guarantee you, if it’s an older demographic, they’ll say Pandora. And if it’s a younger demographic, they’re going to say Spotify. There’s no one listening to top ten radio hits anymore. They’re all music. So that’s already out of the equation. Talk Radio, they have audiences so people are still going into the radio dial. But once you connect your Bluetooth to your car, there’s no reason to listen to radio. I don’t see any strategic advantage. I’ve debated this with people. I’ve had people curse at me, yell at me, because they love radio. But I always ask them, “Give me some facts so we could debate logically.” And then I’ll debate with you. And none of them have come up with anything that I could even think of that would make sense. 

Mario Fachini [41:21]

Please don’t hold back. Tell me what you’re really thinking. 

Chris Krimitsos [41:23]

I’ve been through that debate, actually. And I’ve had someone that’s really well known in the podcast space that transitioned out of radio yelling at me, telling me that radio is still current. But I will not say their names. They’re someone that’s highly influential in the medium. Which is, it was insane to me. 

Mario Fachini [41:41]

That’s totally fine. You don’t need to. I was going to talk about the sponsor and come back for the Imperfect Action Round. But you spiraled a new question when you said, “I’m not for the podcasting. I’m for the medium and whatever the next one will be. That’s where I’ll because I’m about the message.” You alluded to something and we’re talking about it for what you’re doing with Podfest next year and we’re utilizing it right now. Do you know where I’m going with this? 

Chris Krimitsos [42:09]

Live Video, live streaming? Is that what you’re talking about? 

Mario Fachini [42:12]

Yeah. Where do you see video playing a role moving forward with video into podcasting? 

Chris Krimitsos [42:18]

Well, here’s the challenge. You got to see me do my second year of vid fest, where I attract video creators with podcasters. If you ask someone today, what is a podcast and they’re brand new, they don’t distinguish a difference between a live streaming show or an audio show. So you just want – and I know you’re doing a good job on this, Marion. You want your show to be found wherever people are looking. That being said, when I used podcasting – maybe I’m old school – I think of it more as an audio. If someone has a live show, I’d like to know if they do all of it. I just want to know, because like you said, there’s different things you need to be prepared for when you’re on their show. You have really good disclaimers telling people, “Hey, I’m going to be videoing you. This is going to be audio. It’s going to be all over.” So that’s important. Now, YouTube shows does have some differences depending on how you structure it. But it’s all integrating. I mean, it’s happening right now as we speak. And if you ask someone that’s older, whatever age, they say podcasts. They’re thinking half the time that’s a video show. They don’t even know that there’s an ability for audio only. So everything’s integrating. It’s all colliding. Now, where I see things five years from now? That’s a whole different debate. You know, there’s artificial intelligence right now that are learning that would absorb all your episodes you’ve ever done, Mario, and then they could answer questions as if it’s you with your own voice. Google is already testing it. They have these bots that are learning, like, John Maxwell books and then they could answer you as if it’s John Maxwell. So that future is a whole different thing. And people think that you’ll be able to talk to your podcaster, have a conversation with them as you’re listening to their show. I don’t know that this is all conjecture. But I also keep track of that with my futurist friends that are developing skills. And we’re always debating what the next thing is going to be. But that’s five, six years – you know, six years ago, when I found podcasting, I thought I was late to the game. But we were way early because I’d have to explain to people what the word meant. My first year of introduction to podcasting, I’d have to explain to people what’s a podcast? Like, that was my whole – then I would explain it. And then they would say to me at the end, “Can you tell me what a podcast is again?” That’s why we made the movie we got sick and tired of people not understanding what it was. So we had to create a visual representation to explain to people what is this thing? 

Mario Fachini [44:28]

I can relate to that. It’s one of the reasons I love helping people publish their books. Because it’s like how many times do you repeat yourself over and over and over just saying this stuff. Just like, hand them a book? 

Chris Krimitsos [44:39]

Yeah. Instant expert know right away. 

Mario Fachini [44:42]

Speaking of publishing, I know Gabe has done some books. And you were talking about how it’s changed. I remember just seeing with his new show, Let’s Play Thru. Excited for him with that. He posted something recently about it took – I don’t know the exact stats – but it was something like it took two months to get his podcast to 1,000 views or 1,000 downloads or listens. And it took one week on YouTube with his trailer. 

Chris Krimitsos [45:12]

Yeah. So that’s really a good representation of someone using podcasting and YouTube correctly. And that he’s personalizing his shows to each medium. So his Private Club Radio, which gave us a show for private club golf clubs. And that audio is for those managers on how to market and bring in leads. And then he created more of a fun lifestyle show on YouTube, which takes a lot of time. I mean, it’s a lot of work. So the trailer alone took, I mean, at least 100 man hours if you include all our times at least. And two full days of filming. But that trailer, something happened with all the connections he made on audio. And they saw him visually on the course. He’s got people that want to fly him to Dubai and Qatar to go speak at three different clubs. He’s got people in the UK and Scotland. He just shared this last night at our meet up here locally. And then he has people that booked him to speak in China. And he also landed a client. All from a trailer. We haven’t even – he hasn’t even released his first YouTube episode. It’s a trailer prelude to the first episode. So there is something about video seeing is believing because these people knew who he was. It wasn’t like they didn’t know who he was. He was a known entity. But something about that video spurned them to reach out and say, “Oh, man. This guy is the man. I got to book him  now. He’s a hot commodity.” So it’s all on positioning and developing your – we push hard. We all push hard. I know you were supporting it. He’s at 1,000 views on his trailer, 250 subscribers. We also learned that a lot of people don’t know how to subscribe to a YouTube channel. We were shocked at how many people had no clue what that meant. Some people will watch the video and say, “I subscribed.” Like, “Did you hit the button?” “No. What button?” “The red subscribe button.” So we learned a lot about that. We didn’t realize how –that tells me that there’s a lot of movement upwards still because people haven’t caught on yet, which is a good thing for all of us. 

Mario Fachini [47:06]

And same thing for ringing the bell. They can subscribe. They will get notified. 

Chris Krimitsos [47:09]

Yeah. They ring my bell. And he has that in his first episode. He has, like, the subscribe logo and then the little bell. He did a good job with that. 

Mario Fachini [47:16]

Yeah. I remember when he sent me the preview a couple weeks ago. I was like, “This is fantastic.” And we’ve been talking about it since he’s been on the show. For anyone listening, there will be a link in the show notes for his episode. You can check him out. He’s been on the Expert Authority Effect interviews also. I’m going to thank our sponsor and we’re going to come back for the Imperfect Action Round. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [47:36]

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Mario Fachini [47:51]

All right. Ladies and gentlemen, we’re back with the Imperfect Action Round. Chris, are you ready to take imperfect action? 

Chris Krimitsos [47:58]

I’m ready. 

Mario Fachini [48:00]

What is the fastest path to the cash? 

Chris Krimitsos [48:03]

Oh man. This is imperfect action. The fastest path to the cash is finding what you love and adding value in other people’s lives. 

Mario Fachini [48:13]

Great answer. Number two, what is the biggest problem you see your prospects making and the fastest way they can fix it? 

Chris Krimitsos [48:20]

I see who making? 

Mario Fachini [48:23]

Your prospects. 

Chris Krimitsos [48:26]

The biggest problem is chasing money and not putting enough time creating value for their prospects. 

Mario Fachini [48:34]

That’s a big one. Number three – 

Chris Krimitsos [48:36]

Being impatient would actually be the most. Being impatient. Yes, which is basically what I said.

Mario Fachini [48:42]

Okay. Number three, what is the best way to maximize customer lifetime value? 

Chris Krimitsos [48:49]

Oh. Really care about your customers and communicate with them. And when you do something wrong, admit it. Own it. Own it, I should say. Instead of blaming other people. 

Mario Fachini [49:01]

Why do you think most people do that? 

Chris Krimitsos [49:04]

Do or do not do that? 

Mario Fachini [49:06]

Why do you think most people just put the blame on everyone else and stop taking responsibility? 

Chris Krimitsos [49:09]

Oh, it’s a human default. I don’t know. It must be a preset in all human beings. We are natural inclination. We’d rather blame and take the shift off ourselves. But it’s definitely hardwired somehow. And we have to take courses to learn how to develop ourselves. But yeah, I’ve always found take the responsibility, admit when you’re wrong, and move on. 

Mario Fachini [49:34]

What is the gift you have noticed once someone does take responsibility and act from that place of – 

Chris Krimitsos [49:42]

People truly appreciate it. I mean, I’ve had people really angry at me and I take responsibility and I own it. Obviously, I transition. I don’t do it again. But the gift is they feel heard. And they understand that they’re not crazy. And that you played a part in it. And you build a deeper relationship with a human being. 

Mario Fachini [50:03]

That is great. That is great right there. All right. What is a book you’d recommend that’s made a big difference in your life or business? 

Chris Krimitsos [50:10]

I like Stephen Covey’s Highly Effective Habits. I probably read that every couple years at this point. It’s never gotten old for me. It seems like I discover new things every time I do it. And then I’m hoping that the book I’m releasing will be something that will be something for people for generations to come to look forward to. So we’ll see if that pans out. But that is my intention. 

Mario Fachini [50:32]

And what is the name of that book? 

Chris Krimitsos [50:34]

It’s Start Ugly. And it’s a parable. It’s not even – it’s a parable about a philosophy that I preach. 

Mario Fachini [50:41]

I like that. Again, we’ll make sure there’s a link in the show notes. Where can people find more about you? 

Chris Krimitsos [50:49]

ChrisKrimitsos.com. And if you misspell it, I’m sure Google will spell it for you. But Krimitsos starts with a K. Just go to my dot com or PodFestExpo. com. Those are two of my main insights. 

Mario Fachini [51:02]

Excellent. Well, Chris, it has been an absolute pleasure. I can’t wait to see you again. And I’ve enjoyed having you on the show. 

Chris Krimitsos [51:08]

I feel privileged that you invited me. Thank you for having me on your show. I’m in my lumberjack phase here. Every so often I go through that. But I really appreciate everything that you bring to the table, Mario, and the effort that you put into your shows so thank you. 

Mario Fachini [51:25]

I appreciate that. And it doesn’t matter how you look, it’s still your heart and content and you definitely delivered – over delivered as always. And this is just a snapshot of what Podfest is like, everyone. Because you want to be there, Chris is awesome. So Chris, thanks again. I look forward to talking with you soon. And Expert Authority World, we have another great episode here. I look forward to seeing you on tomorrow’s. Have a great day and God bless. 

SPONSOR Business Book Checklist [51:49]

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www.EAInterviews.com [52:04]

Hey, thanks for listening to today’s episode. I hope you got a lot out of it. I know I sure did. If you haven’t done so already, I invite you to subscribe to the show. And also be sure to check out EAInterviews.com for complete show notes, the full interview video experience, links to the resources we mentioned, and more. Have a blessed day and I’ll see you tomorrow.