Warwick Capper was a legend of the Aussie footie field in the 1980’s, and against all the odds, this micro-shorts wearing, mullet adorned footie star has kept himself in the spotlight ever since and is still a household name in Australia. In this week’s somewhat frenetic chat with Warwick, we chat through exactly how he has made his journey to getting paid “6 figures and more and worth every cent” (his words, not mine) to front major marketing campaigns for hotel chains, haircare products, automotive brands, and more besides.
And although Warwick is a massive character who might seem too wacky to have any kind of business head, you certainly can’t be stupid to keep your name on people’s lips for four decades. And I reckon that Warwick could actually teach us all a thing or two about having the confidence to push through and win in business, to seize opportunities as they come along, and to take action every day.
Let’s get into Episode 194 with the man, the legend, Warwick Capper.
In this session of Small Business Big Marketing, you’ll discover:
- Just why Warwick Capper wears such teeny tiny shorts.
- Why having the ability to laugh at yourself could propel your business success.
- The importance of being totally honest and transparent with shareholders.
- Why Warwick prefers to put his name to an exisiting brand rather than owning small businesses himself.
- The importance of seizing every opportunity that comes your way and taking action to make things happen.
- How looking on the positive side of every business situation will help you to overcome obstacles.
- Why Warwick doesn’t have his own Youtube channel or podcast.
- How Warwick has leveraged his name to keep him raking in the cash for decades.
- Why confidence counts for so much as an entrepreneur and small business owner.
Episode Timeline
- 1.45 I get seeded – with toilet paper!
- 5.45 Can’t catch a break with online marketing? Get it SORTED with Netregistry.
- 6.30 I introduce a big theme for this week – taking action. All your research is worthless without it.
- 14.00 Introducing the legend that is Warwick Capper. Not just an AFL legend, but a good bloke who has leveraged his personal brand for decades.
- 16.00 Warwick reckons that his key to success is selling himself and being confident in himself.
- 18.00 Warwick chats through some of his branding exercises and tells me why it is so important to be able to laught at yourself.
- 19.30 I ask Warwick if he attacks his work projects with any kind of business plan or if he wings it.
- 23.00 Warwick talks future ventures – anybody for a piping hot coffee from an outlet of Cappercino? (We see what he did there).
- 24.00 Warwick never misses an opportunity, and we talk over his ability to leverage his brand and really seize those great offers.
- 26.00 Warwick believes in being completely transparent with shareholders, and simply being nice to them.
- 27.00 Our man, Warwick, might have just volunteered to be the face of one of my listener’s clothing brands.
- 29.00 Warwick reveals the secrets behind why he wears such tight shorts.
- 35.00. To succeed in business, Warwick believes that you always have to look for the positive in a situation.
- 40.00 Sort out your business’ small design fixes with Swiftly.com.
- 41.30 My top three takeaways from a rather frenetic chat with Warwick Capper
Here’s (another) wonderful interview that gives you some greater insight in to Caper:
Resources and Links Mentioned in this Episode
- Warwick Capper ‘s official website
- Book Capper to speak at a corporate event
- Who gives a crap?
- Netregistry answers your marketing questions for free
- Swiftly.com – for small design jobs
- The Small Business Big Marketing online community
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Over to you!
Let us know YOUR key takeaways from this episode by leaving a comment below. I personally read and respond to every comment!
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7 thoughts on “194 – AFL legend Warwick Capper talks business. No, seriously!”
I had to go back and listen to this episode at 70% speed, Warwick is a machine. He certainly lives his brand on his sleeve.
3 things I got out of this:
– He does a lot of joint ventures. Know your strengths and play to them. Know your weaknesses and avoid them.
– Get coaching and mentoring from the best
– Marketing is standing out. Be different
Great comments, Paul. I agree, Cappa definitely lives his brand on his sleeve. And he’s not afraid to have a red hot go … at anything! Make hay whilst the sun shines, does The Whiz.
not entirely convinced he’s much brighter than he acts but i’m not knocking the man, he’s made the best of what he has and I bet he works hard at not letting the word “no” get in his way which is a massive lesson in itself. I wonder how many weekend with warricks he’s actually sold, that I would have loved an official answer to!
cheers Grant Kennedy
Yeah, I did mean to ask him about that little venture. If I speak to him again, I will ask him.
actually you did tim and you did ask him if he sold any of them, he didnt answer at the time, he went off talking about other stuff before you finished that conversation. He liked a tangent ol’ caps!! what a legend though hey!!
Hi Timbo,
Great work on this interview, as soon as you mentioned you were having Capper
on the show I think we all knew this could go anywhere. You need to be
congratulated for actually being able to have some control over him. And I
actually think you really got some good stuff out of him that no one else has
been able to do before.
But tell me, is it just me or did you or anyone else notice this as well, at
the start of the interview don’t you think he reminds you off Clive Palmer. I
don’t know if it is just because Clive has been in the news a lot lately, but I
found them both to be very similar.
Before you did the interview I already had preconceived what he would be like,
but then during the interview I started to think to myself, hang on this guy
might actually have brains, but then by the end of it I think he might just
have a group of good advisors.
My take away was, take advantage of the moment while you can. He took advantage
of the fact that he was a pretty good footballer and while he has the spotlight
on him he made sure everyone would remember him. There are many footballers
that had similar abilities to him that had played before and after he
played that have had the same spotlight that he had and yet none of them have
taken advantage of it as much as he has.
My other take away was find those that are in the know and take full advantage
of them. And also don’t just stick with one use more than one if you need to.
He said that he has a few different managers and advisors that he gets advice
from and I think that it is because of them more than because of him that he is
still doing well today.
It is however the complete contrast to the like of someone like Steve Jobs, who
deliberately avoided advice from others and did what was in his gut and his
head.
So I guess it comes down to if you have brains then use them, if you don’t then
find someone that does and use them and you can still do well.
I do also hope that his managers were listening to this interview as your idea
for the YouTube channel for him is perfect. I don’t know of any footballers
doing it yet so he could take full advantage of the medium. Or maybe you might
want to give his manager or whoever you dealt with to book him for the
interview a call and give them that advice as I don’t think he really
understood what you meant.
Love your work, Ben. Great insights, feedback & enthusiasm. Thanks so much.