How Famous Are You with Your Target Market?

Last week, I had quite a freaky thing happen.

I was on a tiny snorkeling boat off the coast
of Maui, Hawaii with about 30 other tourists.
I had just pulled myself out of the water
after seeing a giant sea turtle (very cool by
the way).  A woman approached me and said,
‘is your name Jane?’  ‘Yes’, I replied with a
question mark on my face.  ‘Oh my gosh, she
said, ‘you’re the speaker coach, I’ve read
your book!’

It was quite an experience to run into
someone who knew me in such a remote place.
But I guess, after 16 years in one industry,
attending conferences, writing articles and
speaking, I’m making in-roads as a marketing
expert. Just as Sam Horn is known as the book
expert and Tom Antion is known as the
technology guy.

So how well are you known in your target
markets for what you do?  And what can you do
to become more well known?  Here are a few
ideas:

1.  Pick a lane and be focused. I’ve talked
about this alot, so I won’t expand too much.
Just keep asking yourself, ‘will what I’m
doing right now help me be known for [my one
topic] in 5 years?’

2.  Set yourself apart from industry folks so
that you can get paid.  One of my clients was
well known in the dental industry which
supposedly didn’t pay their internal speakers
well.  But low and behold, when he started to
branch outside the industry, they wanted him
more and have found a way to pay his going
rates.  If you’re good enough, you can ignore
it when they say ‘our industry doesn’t pay
well’.  If not, quit banging your head and
find some new markets.

3.  Write articles to establish your
expertise.  This is a great, and easy, way to
build credibility within your target.  Make
sure your bi-line at the end funnels people
towards your website.

BTW:  If you haven’t seen it, my article in
Speaker Magazine on fee negotiation is here:
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/about.html
(click The Fee Factor link on the left)

4. Write books.  A book may not need to be
industry specific in order to further your
cause.  If you are an expert in sales, you
might target the real estate industry.  The
book might contain real estate examples, but
doesn’t necessarily need to be specifically
written for them.

5. Position.  When you purchase a booth at an
event, you are there in a sales role.  But
when you speak at an event, or are on a
panel, you are positioning as an expert.
Note: you may speak for free at your
industries’ biggest events, but if doing
freebies leads you to more freebies, then
you’ll need to rethink your strategy.

I hope this will help you think about your
target markets and how you might become more
famous within them!

Happy targeting!

ps:  My next teleclass is going to be hot!
Writing and book guru Sam Horn will join us
on March 25th at 2pm Eastern with ‘I Can’t
Believe I Wrote The Whole Thing!’  Space is
limited so click here for details.
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/teleclass.html

Is This Your Year to Write?

I remember one of my speaker buddies telling
me that he was no longer a speaker, he was a
writer.  I thought, ‘cool’.

Most speakers have to write continuously in
order to keep their material fresh.  But then
there are many who write articles and books
in order to continue to advance their
expertise.

Here are a few questions that will help you
move forward with writing – if that is
something that you’ve been wanting to do:

If there has been something holding you back
from writing, how will you move past it?

For most of us, fear that we will suck at it
is probably the reason we don’t take action.
That, and finding the time. But I have found
that the more you write, the better you
become and it’s easier to make time for the
things you enjoy.

Scheduling time in your planner to write is
the best first step you can take.  I
typically alot 2-3 hours per writing session
- after that my brain is fried.

What is one way that you can begin writing on
a smaller scale?

For instance putting out tips, ezines or blog
entries can help condition you for tackling a
bigger project like a book.

Where will you write?

You might think that writing in your office
is a good way to go, but the experts say that
you should find another place all together.
Somewhere that you won’t have household
chores, e-mail or phones to distract you.
Many of you write well on airplanes.  My
preference is a Starbucks that is located in
a bookstore – that way I’m surrounded by
books.  I put on my headphones, crank up
Alisha Keys, and move into my own funky world
of writing.

Who will be your editor?

Behind every great writer is a great editor.
They edit, organize flow, hold you
accountable and push you to write better.
They see things that you don’t.  Find someone
who knows what they are doing and be open.
Being too attached to your material can stunt
the process.

What will your ‘finish’ date for your project
be?

Setting a goal is the first and most
important step.  People with no end dates in
mind can work and re-work books for much
longer than necessary, sometimes years!  Set
that date!

That’s just a few ideas to get you started,
we’ll also talk about writing during our
next teleclass in March (stay tuned for a
date).

Happy Writing!

ps:  My adventure in writing has taken me
down an entirely new path.  Although I will
continue to coach speakers, I have nearly
completed my next book which is a total
departure.  It’s called ’99 Frogs:  A Three
Step Process to Finding Your Perfect Mate’.
I would love to have you share a story for
this book.  For details go
to www.99Frogs.com