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One of the biggest mistakes speakers make
when hiring is not getting clear on their needs
until AFTER they have hired.
Hopefully you have fully assessed whether you
are ready to hire or not after the last Inside
Track Tip: Are You Ready to Hire?
The hiring process has 5 steps:
1) Are you ready?
2) What should this person do for me?
3) How much should I pay them?
4) Where will I find them?
5) How should we get started?
We’ll cover #2 and #3 here today, and #4 and #5 in
the next part.
At this point we need to get clear on what
tasks we want this person to perform for us.
Remember back to April’s Tip: Focus to Earn More
we talked about the $10/hour jobs vs. the
$150/hour jobs?
Well it’s the $10 jobs that you should be farming
out to an admin person. But be clear that this is
not the same as the “sales and marketing” role.
Here is the long list of possible job tasks -
separated into 3 categories 1) Getting Speaking
Engagements 2) Administrative duties and 3)
Personal Assistant:
1) Getting speaking engagements:
prospecting
cold calling/telemarketing
marketing to and working with bureaus
developing or updating marketing materials
proposal writing
sending out marketing materials or e-mail
proposals
closing deals (overcoming objections, etc)
meeting with clients
mass marketing - mailings or e-mails
showcase events
following up leads from gigs
new product development
2) Admin duties:
Booking travel
Generating invoices/Bookkeeping
Schedule management
Gig logistics
Product fulfillment (shipping)
Database management
Newsletter management
Web site management
Managing other businesses
interests/investments, etc.
3) Personal Assistant
Picking up dry cleaning
Feeding the fish
Keeping you organized
Arranging family trips, etc.
JOB DESCRIPTION: Choose your requirements
from the list above and then design the job
description.
Note: As stated in the last tip, if you don’t know
how to sell yourself, you may not be ready to
hire.
SALARY: If your job description includes tasks
from all 3 areas, then you’ll want to consider
offering a base salary (for the admin and/or
personal assistant work) plus commission for the
marketing work. You may get creative and offer an
admin only person a bonus when you meet quotas.
One combo that seems to be successful is the
“business manager” role that encompasses all 3
areas and pays salary plus commission. You and
your business manager will grow the business
together along with both of your incomes.
WHO IS RIGHT?: Now that you have a job
description, make a list of the qualities that the
person doing this job would possess and then make
a list of the values of the person you’d work best
with. (You’ll notice that the people you surround
yourself with often have similar values to your
own).
NEXT STEP: Once you are clear on what you need
and what that perfect person looks like, in two
weeks I’ll provide some ideas on how to find that
perfect person. In the meantime, continue to
visualize yourself finding that perfect person. It
is possible!
Part III: Let’s Find You That Perfect Staff Person
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In Part I of this series we talked about whether
or not you were ready to hire.
In Part II we covered how much to pay and the job
description.
Now we delve into actually looking for this
person. Some of the things that should go on your
list of traits of a marketing person should be:
Honest
Loyal
Detail Oriented
Sales Skills
Relationship Builder
“Gets” what you do
Able to persevere
If you are checking behavioral styles, you might
go for someone with a Driver and Interpersonal
combination.
Now that you have the vision of the person in
mind, here are some places to look….
1. Your inner circle - put out a notice of the
type of person you are looking for to everyone you
know in your business and personal life.
2. If you attend a church ask around there.
3. Your audience - often someone who comes to
talk to you after a presentation might be a
candidate. You might even mention it from the
platform if you can turn it into a relevant story.
4. Virtual Assistant - they are popping up every
day on-line - and there are several who specialize
in coaches and professional speakers.
5. Speaker Management companies - it’s getting
more and more common for 1 person or office to
manage several speakers. Ask around at your
NSA or CAPS Chapter to see who is in your area.
The biggest problem that these companies face is
that they cannot take all the speakers that
approach
them so it’s hard to get your foot in the door.
6. Advertising - locally or on a www.Monster.com
type website will probably get you a fair
response.
Make sure you mention that you are a professional
speaker - people are intrigued by our industry.
You’ll have to weed through a stack of applicants,
but it could be worth it if you find that perfect
person.
Keep in mind the principle “hire slow, fire fast”.
Take your time. Be prepared to spend a lot of time
training this person. (This is why it’s so
important for you to know how to book speaking
business). Do not bring them in, leave them
alone, and expect them to start booking business
for you. That, most likely, won’t happen. Have
them come out to several of your speeches, read
your books, watch your videos. Let them listen to
you sell and role play prior to picking up the
phone.
Have a training agenda.
Hiring is like a marriage and the stats might even
be similar (50+% failure rate). So take your
time, visualize the perfect person coming into
your business and give them the training and tools
to be successful.
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We are constantly working to try to make our phone
ring. We build websites, demo videos, write
articles, run mail campaigns, do free speeches,
etc., to get clients to our door.
But when they get there, do we close the sale
every time? How about 50% of the time?
Many speakers suffer from the inability to sell
themselves. They might not be clear on the value
they offer or have a hard time communicating it
when put on the spot.
Some speakers have a mental block around ’sales’.
They’d much rather have someone else selling for
them because they lack confidence. But the bottom
line is that if you don’t know how to close the
deal, it’s going to be hard to train someone else
to do it for you.
You’ve probably heard me talk about using
attraction strategies to gain clients, but having
some sales skills will serve you well.
Here are a few quick tips that will help sharpen
your skills:
1. Write down some of the key ideas that you
would want to convey while talking to a client and
post them on your bulletin board for easy
reference.
2. Practice role playing with a friend or
colleague so that you’ll be less tongue tied when
a prospect calls.
3. Focus on building relationships rather than
’selling’. By putting your thoughts on the needs
of the client, you’ll take them off ’sales’.
4. Try to meet face-to-face with clients when
possible. It’s still the best way to build a
relationship and in today’s high tech world, we
might tend to forget.
5. Think beyond one speech. How can you help
your client reach their long term goals?
6. Keep track of your numbers. Knowing how often
you lose a sale and why will help you improve.
Want to know more on this subject? Join us for
our next teleclass on Wednesday, January 24, 2007
at 3pm Eastern called ‘How to Close More Business’
with guest expert Dan Seidman author of Sales
Autopsy. Here are the details
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/teleclass.sales.html
Happy Selling!
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Imagine it’s three minutes until you go on stage
and your brand new laptop dies and takes your
slide show and presentation with it.
Then, you are introduced.
You walk onto the stage, close the laptop lid, and
say ‘apparently, we’ll be doing something
different today’.
That’s exactly what my client June Cline did last
week when her technology failed.
And you know what else happened? She changed up
her program on the fly and delivered an
awesome keynote.
What would you have done?
How much are you relying on technology or props in
your presentations?
This past weekend in Vancouver, the caliber of
keynote talent at the Canadian Speakers convention
was really high. But several speakers shone through
for me and for the most part they used two tools -
their voice and their bodies.
Now I’m not saying that anyone using technology
should stop. But I would ask ‘if the electricity
went off would you still be an effective speaker’?
How much of your presentation stays inside a
comfort zone?
And really the bottom line question is, ‘are you
getting all the work that you desire’? If so,
these questions may not be necessary.
If you aren’t 100% happy with your bookings, then
this exercise is for you:
1. List 3 things that you will do in 2007 to help
move your presentation to new heights.
2. Define 2 risks that you could take to move out
of your comfort zone.
3. Send 1 e-mail to a colleague or friend and ask
them to support you in your goals.
And if you’d like to work on your business over
the holidays, I’ve got a special holiday reading
offer just for you. Check it out.
http://www.thewealthyspeaker.com/system2.html
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A few weeks ago one of my clients, a technology
futurist named Scott Klososky took a risk during
his presentation.
While speaking to a group of CEO’s, he was making
the point that we all need to do more to give back
to the world and that technology makes it easier
than ever.
He then went on to purchase a cow live during his
presentation from a charity called
http://www.heifer.org. Heiffer provides a
pregnant cow to a family in an impoverished
country and the family that receives the cow (for
daily milk, etc.) gives the calf to another
family. The lives of 2 families were changed with
one click of his mouse.
The risk for Scott wasn’t buying the cow for $500
in front of the group, it was challenging his
audience to do more.
This holiday, I would like to take a risk.
Normally, I would purchase a gift of some sort for
my coaching clients. Sometimes a Starbuck’s gift
card, or personalized stationery. But this year,
I’d like to buy my clients a cow to say the
following….
Thank you for your business this year. I
appreciate you and want to demonstrate this
by paying it forward to a family who needs us
both.
I think my clients will appreciate the intention.
So how can you take a risk this holiday season?
What could you give your clients that would have
meaning?
How can you think outside of your usual routine to
do something different?
What’s your cow?
Perhaps you’ll give an entrepreneur some seed
money through http://www.kiva.org
Maybe there is something closer to home, like the
NSA Foundation’s Katrina Fund? Or a fellow
speaker who could use a helping hand?
If we all took just one risk, something that we
wouldn’t normally do, what would the results be?
Incidentally, Scott’s presentation resulted in
donations pouring in to http://www.heifer.org and
started a wave of something positive. Families
received cows, chickens and a host of animals that
would change their lives, possibly forever.
His risk paid off.
I wish you all a safe and happy holiday season.
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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
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Are you taking advantage of your eStatus?
My friend Tina, a fellow entrepreneur, had a rough
week. She had not received a large contract that
she was counting on. Her business is new and she
has been working her butt off for months.
After her disappointing call, she decided to take
the next day off and during her day of pampering
and yoga she had an epiphany. She realized that
she had been so focused on the business, that she
was forgetting to enjoy the fact that she was an
entrepreneur living her dream. No more 9 to 5, no
more 30 minute commute, no more crazy boss, no
more wearing pantyhose.
Tina was taking her eStatus (entrepreneur status)
for granted.
Have you ever lost yourself in your business and
forgotten to smell the roses of being self
employed??
Sure, there are some headaches and
responsibilities that come along with your own
business BUT the payoffs are most gratifying.
For me, it comes in the form of Fridays. I take
most Friday’s off. That’s how I remind myself
that I’m running my business, not the other way
around.
Here are a few questions to see if you are taking
advantage of your eStatus:
1. What does your perfect business day look like?
How often are you having them?
2. How many ‘goof off’ days will you take this
year? Shep Hyken calls them ‘work free’ days and
where his goal used to be to speak 100 times per
year, now his goal is 150 ‘work free’ days per
year.
3. How often are you taking advantage of the fact
that you work for yourself? This might come in
the form of scheduling a massage in the middle of
a workday, or doing something spontaneous with
your loved ones. My Dad is turning 80 this year
and when he called on a weekday afternoon to go
for maple syrup in the country, I said ’sure’.
We can work ‘in’ our business, we can work ‘on’
our business, or we can simply take time ‘away’
from our business. Chances are, the break will do
us good!
Happy Break!
ps: Something new and exciting is brewing with
The Wealthy Speaker system…. check it out!
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The speaking industry is somewhat similar to farming.
We plant seeds, we fertilize (some more than others 
, we weed out the wrong clients, and then we see the harvest. Imagine the farmer walking out into the field the day after planting seeds and saying “hey, where the heck are my crops?” Ridiculous right? But many speakers, plant one or two seeds - or sometimes no seeds at all - and expect the phone to miraculously start ringing. The speakers who have their phones ringing have been planting seeds for years by giving speeches (and getting spin off) and by doing marketing, or some combination of the two. Are you expecting a full harvest without planting the seeds? Or would you like to increase your harvest? If so, here are a few steps:
1. Check that your soil is rich and ready. This means, making sure that you are prepared to go to market. That your speech is awesome and your marketing materials are ready, effective, and clearly spell out the value that you offer.
2. Plan your crops. Map out your 1 year marketing calendar. Use a 12 month board and plan to ‘touch’ your clients in some fashion (e-mail, direct mail, articles, etc.) at least 4 times per year. You may also plan to target a specific group.
3. Plant the seeds. Once you have mapped out your calendar, start touching clients on a regular basis and following up with phone calls. It’s all about timing. When the client is ready with a need, you will have communicated with them several times and if your services match their need, they’ll call on you.
4. Weed the crops. Don’t be hesitant about taking people off of your list. If they never book speakers, or will never use your services, then save the marketing dollars for someone who is a better fit. The more honed your list, the better. 5. Consistency = Harvest You should see some results of planting within a few months, but once you have a couple of years of seed planting under your belt, you should start to see things popping up more consistently. There might be a point when you can stop marketing, or you might have to keep it going for years. (Seriously take a look at your speech if you aren’t getting good amounts of business by year 3.)
One of my clients just hit pay dirt (7 bookings) with a mailing he did 2 years ago, so it can take time! Being out there speaking is a great way to build momentum - and plant seeds. If you aren’t getting 2-3 spin off from each engagement, then get some help with your speech. Check out our newest CD of the teleclass done recently with the brilliant Patricia Fripp for some excellent speech tips. http://www.speakerlauncher.com/individual.html
Happy Harvest!
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I don’t know how to sell myself’,
‘I’m no good at sales’,
‘I’d much rather have someone else talk about me
than talk about myself’…..
All common things that I hear from speakers. Are
you a member of that club? If so, you can relax.
Selling yourself as a speaker doesn’t have to be a
burden. There is a way of going about it that
will allow you to approach the situation with more
confidence and less stress.
In ‘The Wealthy Speaker’, I call it ‘matching’.
When you pick up the phone to call on a
prospective client, you want to have two things in
mind.
1. Be clear on the value that you are offering
(have a bullet point list in front of you).
2. Be clear on what type of audience and client
is perfect for you.
Then, when you start dialing, you set the
intention that you are making a call to inquire
whether or not this client’s needs meet the value
and solutions that you offer.
When the client’s needs match your offering,
you’re in business. If they do not, you move on
to the next client.
Not taking rejection personally is tough for
speakers. But guess what, it ain’t about you!
Whatever you are offering may not be right for
this year, but may be perfect for another year, so
bow out gracefully and schedule a follow up.
In the book ‘Attracting Perfect Customers’, the
authors have you create the vision that you are a
lighthouse. The idea is that you stand tall in
the value and expertise that you offer.
When you’re on land shining your beam out to the
world, the clients that need your services (or
boats who need help getting safely to shore) will
follow the light. Well imagine if the lighthouse
sprouts arms and legs and starts running up and
down the beach yelling,’follow me everybody,
follow me!’ It smacks of desperation and the
value that you offer is diminished.
The bottom line is that when you approach a client
to see if your services match their needs, you are
not trying to ’sell’ them something, but you are
allowing them to see if the value that you bring
to the table matches their needs.
Stand tall as the lighthouse! With some consistent
marketing, the clients who need you, will find
you. You’ll then be able to give up your
membership in the ’sales is icky’ club.
Happy shining,
PS: To get your copy of ‘Attracting Perfect
Customers: The Power of Strategic Synchronicity’,
see our special offer here
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/tools.html
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A keynote is just a workshop on steroids, isn’t it?
The answer to that question is a resounding, ‘NO’!
A keynote has completely different elements than a
workshop (or training or seminar).
Many trainers would like to make the transition
and earn more as a keynote speaker. Many keynoters
would like to make their speech better so that
they get booked more!
Join myself and Patricia Fripp on:
Wednesday, September 27th at 3pm Eastern
for the career catapulting teleclass:
TURN YOUR TRAINING TREASURES INTO KEYNOTE GOLD
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/teleclass.fripp.html
You will learn:
- the distinct differences between keynoting and
training and why you MUST know them
- the quickest, most effective way to design your
keynote
- how to have the audience captivated from the
first 5 minutes
- the inside secrets of awesome story-telling
- the absolutely, undisputed, guaranteed way to
get booked again…and….and again….
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/teleclass.fripp.html
Hold your spot now, we are already 50% full.
Jane Atkinson
Speaker Launcher
519-951-6934
http://www.SpeakerLauncher.com
ps: This class is FREE for Wealthy Speaker book
purchasers, click here to find out how to get your
copy today and join the class for free.
http://www.speakerlauncher.com/teleclass.fripp.html
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