Are Bureaus “Just Not That Into You”?

He’s just not that into you.

A phrase first made famous by Sex in the City, turned book, now very popular movie.

The reason for its success?  It allows you not to take it personally when someone rejects you.

The same goes for speakers bureaus.

You should not take it personally when they don’t book you or want your marketing materials. It may not be about you at all. Perhaps you have a topic that they don’t require, perhaps they have too many speakers already and can’t give you their attention.

Here are just a few basics about working with bureaus:

1. A bureau will not launch your career - you need to do that yourself.

2. Always ask before sending your materials to them and write “as requested” on the package or e-mail. Don’t sign them up to your newsletter list unless requested.

3. Don’t call them during their prime selling hours (they typically make client calls during the morning and do follow up and proposals in the afternoon). Don’t call them on their 800 line and keep it brief.

4. Wait until your fee is over $3,500 and you have a demo video that rocks before thinking about bureaus. (You never want your first impression to be a ’so-so’ video).

5. The best way to get your foot in the door is by client referral or if the client requests you. (You can always make that happen by handing over a deal with the client’s approval).

Bottom line, go out and get that business yourself and you’ll find that bureaus will become more interested if they start losing business to you.

PS: To read a full section on bureaus, check out Chapter 6 in The Wealthy Speaker. Need a copy? http://www.speakerlauncher.com/tools.html

PS:  Last month’s teleclass “Blog Your Way to More Business” with Scott Ginsberg was a firecracker!  Check out the MP3 version here http://www.speakerlauncher.com/AudioTools.html

How to Work with Speakers Bureaus

Many speakers are scratching their heads and wondering how to break in to the elusive speakers bureaus network. Either the bureaus never call them, or they call and place holds and they never get booked. Here’s a little insight from someone who has worked for both speakers and for bureaus. Perhaps this will help you get your foot in the door.

ARE YOU READY?
Most speaker’s bureaus (with a couple of exceptions) are not going to launch a speaker’s career. They will most likely start paying attention to you after you have already built a name for yourself.

To see if you are ready to work with bureaus, ask yourself the following questions:

a) Have I given 30 or more paid speeches per year for at least two years?
b) Is my fee high enough? ($3K is an average minimum).
c) Are my materials ready (demo video, one sheets, etc) and do they sell me?
d) Am I really good? Let’s face it – every speaker has been told that they are great. But the truly great speaker gets an average of 2-3 “spin off” engagements after each speech.

GETTING YOUR FOOT IN THE DOOR
The best scenario is for the bureau to have heard your name 3 times (preferably from clients or from other speakers) prior to your calling them. So have your clients and speaker buddies call on your behalf. Most bureaus post their requirements for getting listed with them on their websites. Check out the website first, then call and make sure your topic and fees are in line with what they book. And if they give you the “thumbs up”, then send your materials. Write “as requested” on the outside of the package. Check back with them to see when your materials will be reviewed and get their feedback.

STAY TOP OF MIND
Phone: Calling to touch base during their sales hours is probably not ideal unless you have something important to say, but leaving after hours voice mails could be effective. Email: The average number of e-mails a bureau agent gets per day is around 50. So when sending e-mail: 1) Make sure it has value for them 2) Keep it short with links to more information 3) Monthly is better than weekly. Mail: Postcards and notes via old-fashioned snail mail also work. Timing is everything. In Person: Visiting a bureau’s office or inviting them to see you speak can really help build the relationship – social settings are even better.

GETTING THE BUSINESS
If a bureau has placed you on hold more than 10 times without a booking there could be two issues at hand. 1) They don’t know how to position and sell you or 2) Your video is not competing in the marketplace. If it’s the latter, then you will hear this from more than one bureau and know that your video (and possibly your speech) needs some work. If its #1, then you might ask if you can spend 15 minutes on the phone with the sales team to help improve the closing ratio.

BUILDING THE RELATIONSHIP
I’ve heard bureaus say that speakers are competing with them. And its true, speaker’s staff are on the phone calling the same list of clients as the bureaus. That’s why success in this industry, no matter which side you’re on, comes down to relationships. If you, or your staff, call a client who says that they work with a bureau, tell them “great, let us send you our video packet and we’d be happy to work the contract through that bureau”. Inform the bureau of the conversation and your intentions. If you get booked, the bureau does the contract (keeps the client) and everyone wins.

WORKING THE GIG
To work too closely with the client, without the bureau agent’s involvement is not true partnership. Keep them in the loop at every stage of the preparation for an engagement. After the event, try to introduce the bureau agent to the decision makers that you have met on site and allow that relationship to unfold. The bureau may get opportunities for business that they would not have gotten without your introduction.

SPIN OFF
Recently, many bureaus have said that they are not getting much spin off from their speakers. This could mean that a) the speaker is not getting leads while at the event or b) the bureau is not getting the spin off back – which is a big no-no, so I doubt it. The best way to get spin off is to be really good – we’ve already established this. But you also have to ask your audiences to help you. Here’s a line you can use from the platform: “if you know of any company or association that could benefit from my presentation, please hand me your business card after my speech”. Then, after gathering information (event dates, contacts), send those cards back to the bureau for follow up and keep tabs on them. You should not close a deal and just send the bureau a commission. That client has long term potential for the bureau and they want to build the relationship.

POST-GIG PROBLEMS
If you have a reoccurring issue with clients about travel or a/v expenses, try to address them up front. Right now, air travel that costs over $1,000 is big issue for clients. Let the bureau agent know what your travel is going to cost (roughly) at the time of the booking so that they can educate the client. The last thing you want is to have your final contact with the client be one that is negative.

Bureaus are a great way to build your name recognition in the industry and create demand so that your fee goes up. Once you get to the top, don’t forget who helped you get there. Keep the lines of communication open, stay in touch, and operate in the spirit of partnership and you will have brilliant bureau relationships that last a long time!

For a list of speakers bureaus, go to IASB

Who Said Summer is for Vacations?

It hasn’t been all cottage, beach and flip flops
for everyone this summer, check out some of the
exciting things that have been going on:

SPEAKER LAUNCHER CLIENT NEWS:

Warren MacDonald’s Oprah appearance aired again
this week. Warren is a Vancouver based speaker
who lost both legs to a giant boulder in an
Australian climbing accident. Oprah was astonished
to learn that, even without legs, Warren continues
to climb mountains like Kilimanjaro. Warren,
congrats on hitting yet another peak!
Link to Warren

John DiPietro’s new book ‘You Don’t Have to
be Perfect to be Great’ is selling like hotcakes.
Congratulations John on a successful launch.
Link to John

Bob’s Prosen’s new book ‘Kiss Theory Goodbye’ just
hit the bookstores last week and the reviews are
excellent. This is one to watch!
Link to Bob

Former pro baseball player turned speaker Mike
Robbins just signed a book deal with Jossey-
Bass/Wiley for his first book ‘Focus on the Good
Stuff’. Way to go Mike!
Link to Mike

Congrats to Michelle Ray and David Gouthro who
both received their CSP’s (Certified Speaking
Professional) at NSA in Orlando. Great job!
Link to Michelle
Link to David

COLLEAGUE NEWS:

Jon Wee and Owen Morse of The Passing Zone
(juggling entertainers) have made it to the final
of NBC’S AMERICA’S GOT TALENT despite the fact
that David Hasselhoff hates jugglers. The show
airs this Wednesday night. I hope you’ll tune in,
vote, and help them win a million bucks! Go Zone!
Link to Passing Zone

SPEAKER LAUNCHER (JANE) NEWS:

The momentum for The Wealthy Speaker just keeps
building – thank you for your support.
The Wealthy Speaker

This fall, watch for 3 all new articles in
Professional Speaker Magazine, Toastmasters
Magazine and Canada’s Speaking of Impact Magazine.
Plus, I’ve been asked to deliver a breakout at NSA’s
Winter Workshop in Denver in February.
Link to NSA

The Wealthy Speaker Community is under way for
those with memberships and the ideas are flying!
Want to know more about how to join, contact
jane@speakerlauncher.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Mark your calendar for Wed. Sept. 27th at 3pm
Eastern. Join Patricia Fripp and myself for a
teleclass ‘How to Turn Your Training Programs into
Profitable Keynotes’. Here are more details
That’s all the good news for now…

Jane Atkinson
President, Speaker Launcher

Speaker Mentors: Snatch the Pebble Grasshopper

Remember that tv show Kung Fu? When the student
was finished learning he was able to snatch the
pebble from the teacher’s hand.

I recently had a client who had grown so much that
he no longer needed my services. In my mind,
that’s great news! Dependency is not the goal.

Knowing when to move on from relationships is
often difficult. But when you do, it helps you
continue your forward momentum.

Question: What relationships in your business
are no longer serving you?

Whether it be a supplier, a mentor, a friendship,
etc., we need to know when to move on.

In order to keep growing and moving forward, we
want to have two ‘mentor type’ relationships in
our business.

1. OUR MENTOR: A person who is further along in
the business than we are. Someone who you respect
and take advice from with confidence. Ideally
this person has achieved many of the goals that
you are looking forward to achieving. They ARE
where you want to BE.

2. OUR MENTEE: Someone who needs our help. If
you are just starting out yourself, then you might
wait a year to develop this relationship. But if
you’ve been around awhile, there is someone out
there who needs you. Open yourself up to seeing
them.

I tend to seek out mentors in specific areas. For
instance, I have an online marketing mentor who I
ask for advice on my web-based businesses. I also
have a writing mentor for when I’m in the throws
of a writing project.

And when I mentor someone else, I typically take
on someone who is outside of the speaking industry
to keep things simple. Usually it’s a small
business owner. When you mentor someone else, it
should be 100% donated time with no intended
benefit for you.

What you create with these relationships is good
what-goes-around-comes-around karma. But knowing
when we have outgrown a relationship is key. Be
willing to allow your relationships to ebb and
flow and you will continue to grow (hey, that
rhymes!)

Happy mentoring!

Jane Atkinson
Creator, The Wealthy Speaker System
http://www.SpeakerLauncher.com

ps: The Wealthy Speaker Community has been
created to help speakers feel less alone in
this business. If you’d like to know how to join,
write to jane@speakerlauncher.com for more
information. Or check out SpeakerLauncher.com
for packages that include membership.