Where were you this past Saturday?
If you didn’t just shout out “NSA Las Vegas, Baby!” you really missed out. If you did shout that out but are currently sitting in a coffee shop surrounded by patrons… don’t be surprised if people start quietly moving away from you.
Anyhoo. If you didn’t have the pleasure of our company this past weekend, here’s a quick recap of what you missed.
Our November meeting kicked off with a rousing discussion of Introductions. We brainstormed some important reasons for having an introduction (set the tone of your speech, set up your expertise, get people excited about the topic, help the audience understand why you’re the one presenting on it, etc.) and then we learned the # 1 reason you should have a solid introduction… drum roll please (and we had drum sticks courtesy of Marvelless Mark so this was totally doable)… to give the audience time to settle down.
That’s right, apparently Introductions are the speaker’s version of flipping the lights on and off in a Kindergarten classroom. People need time to fidget, reorient themselves, and open their milk container. And you do not want them doing that during the opening of your speech. If you’d like a good guideline for structuring your Introduction, Google Craig Valentine’s “How to Ignite your Audience with Introductions” – or something to that effect. Also, keep an eye out for this month’s Speaker Lab where you can come learn how to create your Introduction and create it in the room.
We then saw a few examples of video introductions. Actually, our fearless leadership team taught us two valuable lessons:
- How to stay cool under pressure and give the floor to someone else while you get your duckies in a row.
- Why you should always have good tech people standing by to help you with those aforementioned duckies.
Yeah, the technology Gods were not smiling upon us, but that’s okay! Former President Mack Jackson, cyber security expert and resident technology boogeyman took the stage for an impromptu chat on keeping your information safe. You know that little piece of technology you’ve got in your pocket? Apparently, our smart phones are just as likely to be hacked as our computers and yet very few of us have virus protection on those bad boys. The lesson? Download virus protection for your phone (Mack said there are several free apps you can download, and if you have Cox for your internet, they offer a free version as well).
Technology finally working with us, we got to see a few examples of video introductions. They were pretty cool! Are they right for you? Well, that’s really a personal decision.
Moving on.
It was time for the main event. Jane Atkinson, speaker, speaking coach, author, host of The Wealthy Speaker Podcast, and previous business manager and agent to some of the world’s top speakers, joined us for an action-packed day.
Jane woke us up with a little visualization exercise regarding our perfect speaking day. She hit on some fairly common goals (limo to and from the speaking engagement, line of eager book-buyers waiting in your line, new speaking engagements in tropical locations that you can bring your family to, $10k checks that are just half of what you made) and then let us fill in the rest. If you hadn’t guessed, my private jet to and from the speaking engagement is packed with rescue dogs going to their new homes. No problem making a few stops when you’re in such high demand!
Once we wiped the drool from our chins, we dove into the work. Apparently, you can’t accomplish any of this (but how ill Fluffy find his family?!?) if you don’t have the Wealthy Speaker Mindset. 100% of success is due to your mindset. Having a bit of a challenge in that department? Head over to speakerlauncher.com/meditation and download a free mp3 to get you in the right space. I’ve already listened to it once and my favorite takeaway is “I can be happy for the success of those around me because there is plenty for everyone.” (That may not be word for word, but the gist of it perfectly supports the NSA’s concept of building a bigger pie.)
Jane then broke her talk into 3 sections:Dream Business A: $50k to $150k per yearDream Business B: $150k to $500k per yearDream Business C: $500k to $1M+
I’ll take C, please!
Alas, we must walk before we run. Let’s take a quick look at some of the work you must do for Dream Business A.
1) Pick a lane! What are you an expert in? What’s your topic? Want to do better in your speaker business? Pick one and run with it. Find out what works and double down.
You know your value, but the clients can’t pay it. What do you do then?
– You can have a sponsor in your back pocket that would love to get in front of your audience and would pay your fee (or some of it).
or
– This idea came from Jeff Civillico (wait… Jeff Civillico came to a meeting??? This lady must be good!). If they can’t pay your fee, request a donation to your nonprofit or to a charity of your choice. What an amazing way to help grow your business! Shameless plug alert: If you’d like to learn other ways to support a cause you care about while being more successful in your business, check out my new book, Do Good to Do Better: The Small Business Guide to Growing your Business by Helping Nonprofits . You can probably still catch it on a 99 cent promo on Amazon.
2) Seed Planting and Sales Strategy. What’s your superpower? Are you great at networking? Email? Telephone? Social Media? Video? Or like me, did you get your last speaking gig through a dating site?
3) Create (or fix) your website. It should have the 3 P’s: Promise, Positioning, and Personality.
4) Video. You’ll need some quality footage for your demo video. Take a page from Kindra Hall’s strategy and speak for video. In the beginning, it’s okay to have a few minutes of one of your speeches rather than a flashy demo. You can check out jessicakriegel.com for a good example of video.
5) A great presentation. According to Jane, “There is no better form of marketing than a great speech.” She likes to quote herself in her slides and suggests we do it too. After all, why would you position someone else as the expert instead of yourself? Whoah.
6) Active Focused Social Media where you build stories into all of your posts. (I had to run to set up the food at this point, so my notes trail off until after we ate. Want to know exactly what our speaker says? Come to the meeting! You missed pretty good chicken too.)
As we moved on to Dream Business B, Jane reminded us that the next requirements are in addition to not instead of . Don’t fall off the Social Media wagon just because you’ve made it to a certain level. You must keep up with the business you’ve built, just add extra layers.
1) Partnerships – consider working with universities and speaker’s bureaus (who don’t really want you until you don’t need them). In order to woo them, you’ll need to be making around $15k per speech or more, have an absolutely awesome video (with story!), and have a healthy calendar.
2) Healthy Pipeline and Systems to Track Leads – use a CRM and nurture your relationship with the customer. This is actually good at every stage of your speaking business.
3) A Small Team in Place – No, you don’t have to hire elves. But you do need to delegate the tasks that someone else can do in order to free yourself up for the tasks only you can do. These are your 3 core competencies: Speaking, Writing, Selling.
As Dan Sullivan once said, “Ask ‘who’ not ‘how much’.”
Side note: you know how Ed Tate always says that the answers are in the room? Apparently, so are the exact people you need. Once of our guests/soon to be members, Beejel Parmar runs 123employee.com , a virtual assistant company out of the Philippines. Need someone to delegate to? Check them out.
It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for… Dream Business C (cue the horn section).
You guessed it, you still have to do everything you did before plus:
1) Multiple Lead Generation Systems – pull people into your database and keep them there until they buy from you.
2) You As the Leader – communicate with your team regularly and work on your core leadership competencies.
Your goal is to create a self-managed business that runs 24-7 whether you’re in the office, on the road, or on the stage.
A few last jewels:
- There is no one “right” way.
- Stop comparing yourself.
- What got you to $150k may not get you to $800k.
- Every day I’m getting better and better at…
If you want to learn more about working with Jane Atkinson, attending her Wealthy Speaker School, or buying her books, visit www.speakerlauncher.com.Next month, we’ll be skipping the meeting to PARTY! We’ll party till the cows come home. Or until our host kicks us out. Keep your eyes peeled for an invite flying into your inbox.
About the Author
Sheryl Green is a storytelling expert, Cause Marketer, and animal rescuing badass. Having penned three novels, she now brings her penchant for storytelling to non-fiction and content writing, working with businesses and individuals who want to position themselves as experts in their field and make a difference in their community. She leverages the power of story through speaking engagements, website content and book coaching.
She is the author of “Surviving to Thriving: How to Overcome Setbacks and Rock Your Life,” “Once Upon a Bottom Line: Harnessing the Power of Story for Sales,” and “Book Writing for Busy People.” Her forthcoming book, “Do Good to Do Better: The Small Business Guide to Growing Your Business by Helping Nonprofits” is now available. Visit www.dogoodtodobetter.com to download the first chapter free.
She’s also a firm believer that everything looks better covered in pet fur. Learn more at www.sherylgreenspeaks.com