Vancouver Island Business: Your Success PDQ
Kevin Keckstadt (@YourSuccessPDQ), founder of Your Success PDQ, designs/develops and facilitates public speaking and other communication based workshops on Vancouver Island. Kevin so kindly agreed to do an e-mail interview for your reading pleasure. Enjoy.
1: Hi Kevin, where do you live on Vancouver Island and what is your favourite thing about your city?
A: Hi Shalyn, I live in Chemainus. Things I love about Chemainus is that it's off the beaten path. There are no major thoroughfares going through the town and that makes for a very peaceful setting. I also appreciate that it doesn't matter where you live here, every place is a short walk to the ocean. Small community, people are friendly and always willing to help where they can.
2: Tell us what your business is all about and where you are located
(i.e how long you've been in business, target market, what you sell etc).
A: My business mainly focuses on youth 17 - 30, giving them life skills important in day to day interactions with others and, ultimately, their community. I offer workshops and one-on-one training sessions in areas such as public speaking, networking communication, leadership, goal setting - fundamentals that encourage and develop self-confidence so people can more boldly pursue their dreams. I have been actively doing this since 2009.
3: What drives you to do what you do everyday?
A: Oh, that's easy! I love seeing the participants literally blossom right in front of my eyes. All my workshops are built with a 21st century learning format and are participatory and interactive. The way all the workshops are developed the learnings are measurable and happen in real time, so every participant, in every session integrates and uses the teachings in practical day-to-day instances from that moment on. It's amazing really to see the wealth of talent that is hidden just beneath the surface come to light right in front of me! In that regard I truly feel blessed doing what I do! :).
4: What is your 5 year plan for your business?
A: Hmm.. 5 year plan... Well, I mostly love to live in the now - which is probably why all my workshops are designed that way also - so I haven't really projected too much into the future. I am in the midst of designing online courses of my workshops so that more people can benefit from these skills. I am also looking to add more workshops to my repertoire which further help develop self-confidence. Aside from that I am putting together a train the trainer agenda for my current workshops - again, so more people can be reached in other areas and benefit from the skills they will learn.
5: How important do you feel social media is to the success of a business these days?
A: In this day and age social media is vital to the continued success of any business. Sure, there are some businesses out there that enjoy a certain amount of success without being engaged with social media; still, I can't help but wonder how much more reach they would have to potential customers by using it. So, in that regard, social media must be looked at as an integral marketing tool no matter what business a company may be in or who their customers are.
That said, it is also just as vitally important to any business to learn how to communicate effectively one-on-one when building relationships outside of the social media arena. Just as there are many companies that feel they don't need social media to enhance their existing business profile, there are other companies which only rely on social media and have this ill conceived notion that as long as this is in place their business will run on auto-pilot. There is nothing further from the truth with this short-sighted view. Sooner or later, to increase any business potential, you're going to have to speak to someone, and many people are severely lacking in this capacity.
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