It's impossible to write a well-thought-out newsletter documenting the last few weeks' development in the Crush Movement marketing.

We still got new partners and sponsors at the last minute, and we were still confirming a few last-minute speakers who were still unsure if they could attend.

In every 24 hours, I am going through all the emotions:

• Relief about something big moving forward (Yay, Helsinki Partners sponsored our keynote speaker's flights).
• Disappointment because a potential sponsor, conference attendee, or media representative said "NO" or didn't even get back.
• Some sort of "am I stupid for these risks?" moments. We are still underfunded.
• Touched by people in our Movement pushing us forward. Introductions, connections, and social media posts. "What can I do?" messages.
• Excited about seeing this all come through and knowing some of the details that not many know yet. Seeing the huge potential.
• Frustrated and disappointed in myself because I just don't have time to do it all the way I would like to.
• Amazement at what we have been able to do with a zero marketing budget.
• Pride in what a community (and a marketing case) we have created, even if not everyone sees it - yet.
• The deep feeling of clarity, knowing my strategy, my purpose, and the value that I can offer, is becoming closer to reality than ever before.

But is there even a marketing strategy in this chaos?

Yes, and no.

The long-term strategy of what I am building with Crush, and how I want to market it? Hell yes.

Specific sales targets and goals? Absolutely.

And is everything going in that direction? I think so.

But here is where it turns into chaos, and what makes this kind of movement marketing different from typical marketing campaigns and strategy: you never know who raises their hand when you are asking people to show up.

And then you need to be ready to respond and take the best out of it.

It's not a community, movement, or joint venture if it's not done TOGETHER.

This is not about my leadership, this is about how many additional leaders we have in the movement.

It is not a movement if there is a lonely nut waving her hands (watch this TED talk by Derek Sivers).

It's only a movement when others join in, and joining in is not a lesser form of leadership; in fact, it's crucial.

"Now it's not a lone nut, it's not two nuts -- three is a crowd, and a crowd is news. So a movement must be public. It's important to show not just the leader, but the followers because you find that new followers emulate the followers, not the leader. The biggest lesson is that leadership is over-glorified. Yes, it was the shirtless guy who was first, and he'll get all the credit, but it was really the first follower that transformed the lone nut into a leader. So, as we're told that we should all be leaders, that would be really ineffective."

This is a very basic lesson in movements, and one of the reasons I have not even focused on my branding the past few years.

You do not build a movement by building up the leader. You build a movement by building up everyone else.

Crush is a movement for thought leaders, business founders, and professionals climbing their careers and making an impact in our society. It has been even more important to show respect for their thought leadership and highlight our speakers and members as the experts, not me.

At the same time, I am now seeing what it has meant for our community that I have stood up more, and even just starting to post online more in-depth.

Maybe some have seen the past as a lack of leadership.

The Real Thought Leaders, Step Into The Light, Please

I am not doing justice to our community by only posting three videos here.