If a client’s first impression of you was:

a) reading your article in an industry mag
b) seeing a print ad for your business which do you think would have more impact?

I vote for “a”.

If a client’s first impression of you was:

a) seeing you speak at the convention or
b) meeting you at your trade show booth….

which do you think would have more impact?

I vote for “a”.

If a client receives a piece of mail from you:

a) an article that was written by you
b) a copy of your one sheet…

which do you think would have more impact?

Again, I vote “a”.

Whenever you have a choice to position as an expert, take it.

If they throw in a trade show booth as part of your payment, then be there for an “autograph session” after your speech. Be there as an expert, not a sales person.

Position, position, position.

Comments welcome below….

PS:  Club Update:  Club Quick Start for new speakers is now full.  However, I have added another cycle of Club Catapult for seasoned speakers, for details…  http://speakerlauncher.com/clubcatapult.html

Where I used to be aggressively thinking about marketing and how to ramp up biz for the Fall, now I base the success of my summer on my flip flop tan line.

If it’s well defined, I’ve done a good job!

Is it silly and not very strategic to base success on a tan line?

Perhaps, but isn’t the point of having your own business to be able to dictate how you spend your time? To me it’s proof that I’ve had fun!

If you are in the early stages of your business and you’re working like a dog – please know that things will get better!

Why not set the goal that next year, you’ll take 2 weeks off? And in 3 years, maybe a month?

(I’d love to hear your goals or your summer time wins – just comment below.)

For me, the best feeling in the world is to be sitting at the cottage on the porch, sipping a glass of wine and I hear “cha ching” from my laptop.

That means I just made a sale.

Closing a deal or making a sale while doing nothing is absolutely brilliant!

So this summer you can be thinking about:

a) what product you can develop to increase your cha-ching

b) what do you need to let go of in order to move your business forward this fall

c) what other passive incomes streams can you consider (clubs, membership sites, online content)

d) and, how can you take more time off next year!

I’ll see you soon Wealthy Speakers.

ps: And speaking of Clubs, my group coaching for beginning speakers has been full all year. So I’m starting another Cycle in September.

If you’d like a step-by-step formula for launch with a coach at your side, check out Club Quick Start. http://www.speakerlauncher.com/quickstart.html

Funny, she had at least 3 ideas of people she could follow up with about her new keynote, a training opportunity and product sales.

Where are your low hanging fruit?

Are there clients that you should have re-connected with?

When entering into a relationship with a speaking client, do you have a long term goal in mind?

One client has this type of sales stream:

• Someone reads his book
• Calls to book a speech for their group
• Group purchases books for entire audience
• Engagement leads to consulting contracts
• Consulting contracts include training and coaching
• Training sessions result in more product purchased
• And the whole thing goes round for each new client

Look at what picking one piece of low hanging fruit might produce!

Are you making the most of each connection with a client? Or are you ending the relationship once you leave the stage.

See you soon Wealthy Speakers.

PS: Club Quick Start is beginning another cycle (Cycle V) in September. If you are a new speaker, interested in following a strategic path to launching your business, check this out http://www.speakerlauncher.com/quickstart.html

Seasoned speakers: Interested in seeing another Club Catapult? http://www.speakerlauncher.com/clubcatapult.html (add yourself to the wait list)

There were alot of really terrific ideas. Really! And if you didn’t see all 42 of them, I would encourage you to take another look.

http://ow.ly/27zmA

The point of the contest?

It was to help people think more about the audience, become more “them” focused.

Based on the responses, someone reading this post will have a lot of great ideas to learn from.

The winners of the book with the top 5 ideas are:

Steve Hughes
Rhonda Scharf
Amanda Gore
Gary Minor
Marion Grobb Finklestein

Congratulations!

“Whether you are communicating one-on-one or with a large audience, asking questions creates a connection between you and your listeners that is vital to releasing energy and raising their interest levels. Because my audiences are often so varied, when I begin speaking…. I pose a question related to the topic I’ll be speaking on. I’m simply trying to get people to engage right away.”

How do you engage your audience?

Are you connecting with them in the first 30 seconds?

One of THE most difficult things for a speaker to accomplish is the “audience flip”. Making it about them (the audience) rather than about yourself.

Art Berg, a speaker who died way before his time, told me that he saw his career change when he caught onto this. It wasn’t easy to make his story “about them” as he was a parapalegic who had suffered a horrible accident. But he did it. Art’s theme was “while the difficult takes time, the impossible just takes a little longer”. Once he turned his speech around and made it about them he saw a major surge in his career.

CONTEST:

During your presentations, how do you connect with your audience?

I’d like to see your ideas posted below by July 1st.  The top 5 ideas will win a copy of John Maxwell’s new book “Everyone Communicates, Few Connect”. (Be sure to leave your e-mail address with your comments so I can connect with the winners).

PS: Someone who is famous for connecting with their audience is Joe Calloway. Joe and I produced “Diary of a Killer Keynote” DVD which includes one of Joe’s most talked about NSA speeches. Right now, we’re offering them at a special sell off price (save $30). Check it out. http://speakerlauncher.com/tools.html

During our coaching, a client and I will often spend time deciding WHO we want to speak to with our website or marketing materials.

Sometimes it can be difficult to pin down.

However, skipping this step will certainly lead to confusion when it comes to developing a strong promise statement and writing the copy for your site.

Many people target the audience, when they’d be better off targeting the decision maker.

For instance, a promise that says: “Have fun at work, get along well with others” (speaks directly to the employee)

While…. “Build strong teams who communicate effectively” (speaks more to the leader)

While…. “Building a cohesive workforce that delivers exemplary service” (speaks to the leader AND speaks more to outcome)

When you get a clear idea of who you want to attract to your website, it’s much easier to develop language for them.

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

So what’s the problem here?

Bureaus, meeting planners and decision makers have likely heard it this before. You can tell them how great you are, but chances are very, very good that they are not going to take your word for it. You are going to sound like every other speaker who has gobbled up their time.

And, there are MORE new speakers breaking into the market than ever before. So that means people have much less patience for the Gabby McGabberson’s of the world.

So how do you break through and get noticed?

The #1 way to get discovered by a bureau or a decision maker is to be great on the platform and have clients tell them about you.

And when you find yourself starting in to your “I’m the best thing since sliced bread” spiel. Stop! Ask yourself the question “what’s the one thing I want to learn from this phone call?” Perhaps you ask whether or not they ever book your topic. If they say “tell me more” then you have an opening. If not, respect their time and hop off the call when you get your answer.

The ideal situation?

A client or bureau has heard about you from several different sources before you ever pick up the phone to call them. Around the 3rd time, they are going to think “I keep hearing about this speaker, maybe I need to check them out”.

When they are seeking you out, that’s when you are in the perfect position.

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

PS: Want to know more about working with bureaus? Check out Chapter 6 in The Wealthy Speaker. Here’s the link if you don’t have your copy yet. http://speakerlauncher.com/tools.html

Yaaaaaaawn!

We need more enticing copy when asking people for their e-mail address.

With today’s spam, our “@” has become our most preciously guarded possession.

And some would say, there’s no reason to even have a website if you are not capturing names and addresses for follow up and “fan” development.

Chances are people may not purchase from you (or book you) on the first visit. So you have to keep in touch and continually show them WHY YOU ARE THE EXPERT OR THE BEST IN YOUR FIELD.

So where does the carrot come in?

In order to get people to give up their e-mail, you have to offer them something that they think they can’t live without. You have to dangle a great carrot.

For example, on my Wealthy Speaker System site, I offer a special report called “The Top 3 Mistakes Speakers Make and how to Avoid Them”. http://thewealthyspeaker.com/

As a speaker, wouldn’t you want to know what those mistakes are? Most people do, so they sign up.

So what do you have that people cannot live without? A special report? A white paper? An MP3? An eBook?

If you’ve had success using this method, I hope you’ll comment below to share what has worked (or what hasn’t) for you.

Get those carrots in place and I’ll….

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

We pay extra for checked bags, we pay extra for carry on, we pay extra for aisle seats, we pay extra for snacks.

The new normal in air travel is “we might give you a cheap ticket but we’ll squeeze you everywhere else”.

In hotels it’s the opposite. Before, some hotels were nice and modern. Now many, if not most, boast awesome beds and sheets, flat screen tv’s and upgraded rooms. More and more have free wireless.

The new normal in hotels is that you have to be updated just to be average.

So what’s the new normal in speaking?

Before: Standing on a stage with good presentation skills and an engaging style was enough.

Now: Today’s audiences demand fresh, relevant content and WIIFM. If you haven’t taken the time to make it about them, you’ll lose them.

Before: Fees were on the rise and client’s pockets were deep.

Now: Clients are nervous about spending. You must demonstrate return on investment and value. And even then, you might still need to negotiate to win the business. (see my article “The Fee Factor” in Speaker Magazine for more on this). http://speakerlauncher.com/about.html

Before: Being great was a bonus for the client.

Now: If you’re not great, your audience will Tweet their boredom while sitting right in front of you. You need to combine solid content with powerful, engaging stories.

The new normal in speaking is that we have to stay sharp, we have to be unique, and our content must be moulded to the needs of our audience.

How do you measure up to the new normal?

Feel free to comment below…..

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

Last week I tweeted this idea and it sparked a mild debate about which was more important – content or presentation style.

So let me preface this post by saying you MUST be good on stage.

Marcus Buckingham is a great example. He knew right out of the shoot how to be engaging and funny on top of great content. Because of that (a few bestsellers and being a hotty didn’t hurt) he rocketed up the fee ladder very quickly.

Like our marketing, our content also needs to be packaged in a clear, digestible format.

I don’t want to leave your session feeling overwhelmed or needing a nap. But I should be able to tell someone (in 20 seconds or less) what I learned.

Content is going to be what rockets you up the fee ladder as well. Here are some things to rate your content on:

1. Relevance

How relevant is your content to your audience? Can they use it? Apply it? Will it inspire?

2. Timely/up-to-date

Have I seen your content before? How long ago? How can you sharpen it or spin it?

3. Unique/creative approach How much time have you spent molding your content into something unique? Something that your audience has never seen before and reflects your personal style.

4. Demand

Is there high demand for your content? Who is going to pay to hear your message?

This post is meant to give you a kick in the butt to examine your content. Maybe you are in great shape, maybe you need work?

Feel free to share your ideas below with a comment.

See you soon Wealthy Speakers!

PS: Did you know that there is nearly 3 hours of powerful content in LIVE version of the Wealthy Speaker Seminar? It’s available now to download directly to your iPhone or computer. It comes with visuals and at just $47 (no shipping required) it’s a tremendous resource! http://speakerlauncher.com/tools.html