Become a Paid Speaker

Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #14 (of 101): Capitalize on Your Strengths

Capitalize on Your Strengths!

Many of us became speakers – or want to become speakers - for one of two reasons:

1. Saw some great speakers (or one great speaker), like Anthony Robbins, Jack Canfield, Seth Godin, Barack Obama…. or maybe it was a religious leader at your church or one you saw on TV… or perhaps it was a little-known speaker that you saw at a conference…AND you thought “One day I want to be like that guy!” 

2. You had an experience, or a series of experiences, that lead you to believe strongly in something – something that deeply affected your life and now you want to share that message with the world

If you decided to become a speaker due to reason #1 above, chances are that you are trying to emulate your “hero”… at times it’s not even a conscious decision, you just simply compare your stage performance to the performance of the speaker you admire.

Now… those who decided to become a speaker due to reason #2 above, often will just go out there and speak, and be themselves; because they have a message and they want to spread that message.  HOWEVER, this group of speaker is not always exempt from trying to monkey – I mean, mimic – other successful speakers…

Don’t Set Yourself Up for Failure!

Fact is, however, when you try to be like Anthony Robbins, or whoever you are looking up to, you are setting yourself up for failure.  There is only one Anthony Robbins and he is great because he has his own style – Anthony Robbins’s style.  And, if you want to be great, you should strive to become the best “you” you can become, by finding and capitalizing on your strengths and developing your own style.

Capitalize on Your Strengths!

Anthony Robbins’ strengths are his high energy, loud voice, great enthusiasm, passion for his topic, knowledge of NLP and other behavior-modifying techniques, etc.

What are your strengths?  Make an inventory…

When I started speaking, my goal was to be the next Anthony Robbins… I admit it.  Yet when I spoke, I never saw myself as even coming close to his performance.  Before each of my presentations I’d stay awake for nights prior to my speaking engagement, or wake up often in the middle of the night with a giant pain in my chest, and getting frequent panic attacks: “What if I screw up?  What if I forget what I have to say?  What if I make a full out of myself? …”  It was physically painful – really painful.  And while I did ok with my presentations, I soon noticed that I’ll never be the next Anthony Robbins.

I noticed that I’m very different and I have very different strengths… I also noticed that I had strengths that I did not know I had, such as a humorous delivery style (no matter the subject), a conversational tone, connecting easily with my audience, love of interaction with audience members…

It took me about 2 years to develop my own style and be comfortable in my “skin.”  For the first 2-years I tried to be what I was not (trying to monkey other great speakers), while I also tried to be extremely “politically correct,” so I wouldn’t offend anyone in my audience…

Starting in about my 3^rd year of speaking I started to relax.  I learned that the only way to truly succeed as a speaker is to allow yourself to be “you”; and I noticed that when I allowed myself to be “me,” I was much more comfortable in front of the audience… AND when finally I allowed myself to be the Real Me (dropped the need to be “politically correct” all the time), now I really have a blast with my presentations, and I can tell that most of my audience members enjoy the “new” me (which in fact is the “old me” – the real me – who I tried to hide since I thought I needed to be like someone else).

I’ve been speaking now, full time, for close to a decade and I can tell you with 100% conviction that AUTHENTICITY is the way to go. 

• Allow yourself to be Real YOU in front of the crowd (with the caveat that, if you are speaking at a slow speech rate and tend to go way too deep into details… then speed up your speech rate a bit and balance your detail-spills with short stories, group activities, and other interactive activities…. Except if you speak to highly technical audiences, such as computer programmers, engineers, etc., then you can go into as much detail as you want, but still speed up your speech rate a bit AND vary your tone – you don’t your audience members to fall as asleep; or worse, die of boredom.)
• Find and capitalize on your strengths (while you’ll find some of your strengths by sitting down and making an inventory, you will find some of your strengths while you speak – record yourself each time you can, and watch your performance; watch your audience’s reaction to your presentation: when did they seem most engaged?  What did they find funny?  What part of the presentation did they seem to enjoy most?  … then capitalize on what you learn – do more of what worked and less of what didn’t)
• Don’t be afraid to pick a side!  If you try to please everyone, you won’t gain true fans. Verbalize your biases and beliefs once in a while (don’t over do it! And make sure not to go into extremes when you are paid to deliver training to a corporate client – getting repeat gigs is more important than letting the audience know about your biases and beliefs)
• Always give your audience a Feedback form.  Throughout the years I collected thousands of feedback forms and learned a lot through these little pieces of paper.  Of course…, at times you’ll read things that will not be too nice, but again, you can’t please everyone at all times, and that’s ok.  Always analyze if the comment has merit; if it does, improve your act; if it doesn’t crumple up the sucker and throw it in the trash can.
  I know speakers who do not give out Feedback forms out of fear of negative feedback.  I’d say that if you don’t get feedback you are missing out on a great tool that can help you grow as a speaker, as well as help you improve your presentations.  So I highly recommend it (send me an email to support[at]egSebastian[dot]com if you’d like to get a copy of my feedback form).

Did I leave out anything?  Do you have some suggestions on how a speaker can capitalize on his/her strengths?  Please put your suggestions (or questions) in the Comments box.

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Ok…, I promised myself that I’ll start posting shorter posts, but I screwed up again… next time I’ll try to do better

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More From Public Speaking - Paid Speaker 101 - Get Paid for Your Expertise!

• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #3 (of 101) – How to Set Your Speaking Fees
• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #2 [of 101] – How to Get More (or your first few) Speaking Gigs
• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #1 [of 101] – Be Authentic

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Tags: authentic speaker, capitalize on your strengths, Communications, paid speaker, public speaking, relate to the audience, successful speaker

Useful Resources

Here are a few more resources that I use…

• http://www.millionaireblueprints.com/ - subscribe to Millionaire Blueprints and get inspired by how others went from “zero to hero” — you can also buy back issues of the magazine
• http://www.targetmarketingmag.com/ - FREE online or in-print magazine filled with great tops on online marketing.
  “Target Marketing delivers hands-on, how-to-do-it editorial that gives you the tools you need to effectively develop, execute, and evaluate your direct marketing efforts. Whether it’s direct mail, telemarketing, or websites, you’ll get the ideas and insight you need to help you and your company market smarter and more profitably. Subscriptions are available free to individuals who meet pre-established demographic criteria.”
• http://store.vervante.com/index.html - Publish Your Books and Audio Products!
  This service came highly recommended by several people I know; I use http://www.CreateSpace.com — check out both services and see which one suits your needs better.
• http://www.speakerfulfillmentservices.com/ - a service provider that caters to speakers and helps us with creating products, fulfiling orders, and many other services.  Check them out!!!!

If you haven’t subscribed yet, fill in your contact info below to get these messages in your email inbox:

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• Bonus Resources!
• Speakers’ Resources | Become a Paid Speaker

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Tags: Business, Direct marketing, marketing, millionaire bluePrints, publish your audio product, publish your book, publish your cd, Resources, Website

Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #13 (of 101): Attract Coaching and Mentoring Clients with Public Speaking

Do You Provide Coaching or Mentoring Services?

I’ll tell you in a seocnd a few ways to attract new coaching/mentoring clients, but first I just have to give “homage” to public speaking:

Public speaking is the greatest way to make a living…

Just think about it:

• you get paid for doing what you love to do
• you often get paid an unbelivable amount of money for what you love to do
• you get to share your message to the world
• you get to travel (many of us speakers love that part)
• you get to meet countless wonderful people
• you have the ability not to just dream, but actually adopt what your creative juices inspire you to do or share
• you get to be seen by many as sort of a celebrity (definitely you’ll be seen as a super brave person, as most people would rather stick niddles under their toe nails than stand up and speak in the public)
• and… did I mention that it’s one of the very few careers out there where you get paid to do what you love…?

Well… I love public speaking!  In the past 20 years I shifted businesses and careers more times than I want to admit it… Public speaking is my longest career ever – nearing a decade – and I’ll do it till I turn 99, then I’ll retire

Now back to business!

Public speaking is not just great for the sake of public speaking, but it can also bring in some side-business.  I know many speakers – including me – who, yes, they love to travel (and some totally hate to travel), but they’d love to spend more time doing creative work (writing a book, writing a new speech, creating a new workshop, etc.)…

Here are a few ways to generate new clients through public speaking that will result in spending more time at home and less on the road:

1. Coaching
   If you are not providing coaching to your audiences, you are missing out on a biiig chunk of income – income that you could generate while sitting on your but, in your home-office, staring out the window.  Fact is, you can’t really make a lasting impact in 90-minutes or even a ful-day workshop, so you are cutting your audience members short if you do not provide them the possibility to get more of you.
   To get some great coaching tools (trust me, you need them), visit http://www.CoachVille.com (I haven’t been there in a while, but they used to have free coaching tools and a bunch of free training – they also have paid packages, which is well worth the investment) and http://www.coachesplus.com – they have paid packages, but they seem very thorough and professional (I’m not related or compensated by any of the two sites)
   What to charge for coaching?  It depends.  I’d say that a base fee would be $450 per month for one meeting per week (by  phone, usually), for a 30 to 60 minutes session (I do 45 minute sessions for coaching / 60-minutes for mentoring).To get coaching clients, first of all start promoting yourself as one, get trained, get some practice clients, keep working on your skill…  Then each time you speak, mention some successes that you attained with your coaching clients… then at the end of the presentation/workshop/etc., give out a form that allows your audience members to sign up for your coaching program (and if they do it today, they’ll get a 25% discount – or even a 50% discount – for the first 30-days of coaching)To get more sign-ups, provide a CONDITIONAL (if you do everything we agree to during our coaching calls and if you don’t get the expected results, then you’ll receive 100% refund); or provide a 30-day or 90-day unconditional money back guarrantee (in my first years I provided a 90-day unconditional money back guarrantee – no one has ever taken advantage of it)To further increase your sign ups, provide coaching packages with a time-frame, such as 90-Days to Greater Profits, 90-Days to a Healthier You, Relationship Make-Over in 60 Days…
   Link the title of your coaching program to your presentation or to main points in your presentation.  You can provide 30-day packages… al the way to 1-year packages
2. Mentoring
   Mentoring is perhaps the easiest way to generate an additional income as a speaker… or even as a coach.  As a mentor you don’t require to have any formal training, nor do you have to be a great listener (as a coach, you must be a pro listener, be non-judgmental, allow the client to come up with answers whenever possible,etc – as a mentor you do not need the whole package… though good listening helps here too)
   In a mentoring relationship you simply offer to teach your new client a skill:
   - how to build a wordpress-based website
   - how to create a membership site
   - how to develop a marketing plan
   - how to use social media to promote your business
   - how to lose weight and develop healthy lifestyle habits that will keep you fit
   - how to develop great stage presence
   - how to sell more products from the back of the room
   - how to get started in paid public speaking
   - how to become the confident person you always wanted to be (this wou’d most likely lend itself to a combination of coaching and mentoring)
   - html training
   - create products training
   - how to write a book in a week
   - and the list could go on to infinity… and beyond….Fact is, if you want to extend your income-generation beyond your speaking (especially whenever you speak for free or at a low fee), then providing mentoring to your audience members is a great way to generate some additional income. Make it easy for your audience to sign up.  Have sign-up forms ready and give them an incentive if they sign up on that day.
3. BONUS TIP A!
   Record your presentation – with a video camera AND  an audio recording device, whenever possible – and at the end of the day, offer the recording of the presenation for a fee.  SPICE your offer up with some irresistable bonusses, such as white papers, eBooks with super great info (and super great title) related to the topic of the day, etc + a free 30 minutes coaching  or mentoring session with you (and you put a value on it, such as “a Value of $125 – actually, put a value on each of the bonusses you provide with the recording).
   You can send them the recording by mail, as a CD, for higher perceived value; or as an Mp3 download… or a combination of two, again for higher perceived value.

In your bonus materials
- ebooks, ecourses, audio recording of past events, etc – you’ll promote subtly but repeatedly [without overdoing it] that you are available to coach or mentor the reader or listener…  You’ll also promote [subtly but super visibly] your products, online audio-courses, and whatever other services or products you might have.
The key is to provide tremendous amount of value – you want your client to say “Wow!  This is some super great stuff!  I’m so happy I invested in it… and I’m so surprised that he only charged so little for it…”  And if you accomplish that, they’ll invest in more of your products and services…

What to charge for the recording?
$2O.OO would be the least amount… but depending on the added value you provide, you could charge as much as $75.OO or more…  If you include recordings – or a whole library of recordings – of past teleclasses or live training presentations that are related to the topic of the day… plus perhaps a few checklists on how to get from A to Z… then you can charge more…

BONUS TIP B!

Put on Teleclasses or Webinars – paid or free – of your workshops or presentations and create products out of them.  During each teleclass/webinar promote your coaching or mentoring services. 

Provide your listeners with the chance to purchase the recording of the teleclass or webinar… again, spicing it up with a several irresistable offer-type bonusses.

BONUS TIP C!

I already mentioned this in previous posts – and I’ll mention it again later – it’s just so important…

ALWAYS COLLECT YOUR AUDIENCE MEMBERS’ CONTACT INFO and stay in touch with them.  Send them regular value-loaded short videos, or short emails, a newsletter, etc. and always promote [subtly] your coaching or mentoring programs/services… and, of course, your speaking services…

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I hope the above tips helped.  If they did, please give me some feedback in the comment section.  Also, if I left out something, or you have other creative ways to gain more coaching/mentoring clients through public speaking, share with us…

…

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Tags: additional income, audio product, Business, Business Services, coach, coaching, Communication, Education and Training, mentor, mentoring, product creation, products, public speaking, Social media, Sound recording and reproduction, teleclass, teleclasses, video product, webinar, webinars, Website, work in your pj's, workshops

Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #12 (of 101): 5 Tips to Create a Powerful First Impression

First Impressions Count - Make 'em Powerful!

“I’m sorry, I’m not really used to speaking in public.. so please bare with me…”

“Hello!  Can everybody hear me in the back…?

We all heard such borring and no-impact openings… Never open with similar openings: check your VA equipment in advance and never start with an apology (unless you knock over someone’s hot coffee in your way to the lecturn and it lands in their lap; or if you step with your high heel on someone’s foot… you get the gist )

The way you start your presentation, PLUS the way you look and carry yourself, will often set the tone for how you’ll be perceived throughout your presentation.  At times you can recover from a poor first impression, but why risk it?  Why not do it right each time…?

Here are 5 tips that will ensure that you’ll create a great first impression every time you speak:

1. Have someone read your bio!
   Make sure your bio is more audience-benefit oriented.  Enumerating your degrees and accomplishments might feed your ego, but as Joel Bower says “Your ego is not your best amigo” – so keep it short and make it sound like you are the perfect speaker for this event.  Always customize your bio to fit your audience, highlighting how you helped other people “just like them” – just like your audience.
   If possible, never read your own bio, even if you have to ask an attendee to do it for you (I’ve done that once or twice in the past decade..).
2. Dress for success! 
   The key is to dress one notch above the audience; though for most events dressing up in a formal attire is the safe way to go.  You are looked at as an authority on you topic – gift your audience with the ability to listen and hear your message, and not get distracted by your attire (keep jewelry to minimum; ladies make sure your skirt and blouse are not too revealing, or else we guys won’t hear a word you are saying; wear cloth that make you feel powerful and confident)
3. Project Confidence!
   Regardless whether you feel it or not, stand up straight, look your audience in their eyes and smile (unless you are the speaker at a funeral or you speak on suicide or other somber topics).  Confidence CAN be faked, no matter what some might tell you!  “You fake it till you make it” is a very valid saying when it comes to public speaking.
4. Have a strong opening!
   Start with a great (personal) story… or some intruiging data.. or intriguing question…
   “On July 26,  2008, as I was driving down to one of my speaking engagements, enjoying the view on the winding mountain roads of  Montana, suddenly there was a THUMP! (use the microphone to create effects) – a rock of the size of a bowling ball fell on my wiendshield, cracking it into millions of pieces, blocking 100%  my view of the road … the rest of the events happened almost in slow motion… and I felt as if I was watching from outside as ran off the road and started heading towards some large pine trees….”Of course, your story needs to fit the theme of your topic.  Personal stories seem to be most liked, but others’ success or inspirational stories work as wel…  One great technique is to tell your story only half way, then involve the audience and ask something like “How many of you found yourself  at a point in your life when you..” or something similar that relates to the story and to the topic of the day (as you ask, you raise your hand and leave it up in the air, till you get some response — you’ll get responses; your audience is there for the very topic you just mentioned in your question).  Then finish your presentation by getting back to your story and finishing it.  Your audience will be greateful that you did not forget about them and you did dnot leave them “hanging” with an unfinished story/suspense…Or you could use one of the safest “powerful” openers and start with a famous quote: “Ralph Waldo Emerson said…”Intriguing questions are my favorites:
   “Did you know that…”
   “Do you realize that during the time I’ll speak, in the next hour or so, 200,000 people will die of a heart attack  in the United States… and about 70% of that could be easily avoided” [I made up those numbers - please don't quote them]Involve the audience type questions:
   “With a show of hands (and you raise your hand and keep it up) how many of you are here today because you are frustrated with…”

   Be creative!  But do not be borring.  You’ve probably heard it many times – if not, you’ll hear it many times – Your audience will forgive you if you stammer or stumble here and there; heck, they’ll forgive you even if you forget what you wanted to say…  or if you trip and fall off the stage; but they’ll never forgive you if you are boring.  So make that first impression of your opening count!

5. Use a confident voice and try to be upbeat!
   It is realy scarry when a speaker starts his or her presentation on a monoton tone….  Smile, speak up, look people in the eye (find first someone with a friendy face, look him or her in the eye, then find someoene else and look that person in the eye… and keep fanning out, till you cover the whole room — avoid speaking to one or two people!)

If you use the above 5 strategies, you’ll consistenty generate a great first impression; which in turn will give you a great start to deliver your presentation with more confidence and poise.

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More From Public Speaking - Paid Speaker 101 - Get Paid for Your Expertise!

• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #3 (of 101) – How to Set Your Speaking Fees
• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #2 [of 101] – How to Get More (or your first few) Speaking Gigs
• Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #7(of 101) – Create a Professional Web Presence

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Tags: Business, Business Services, Communication, confidence, create a great first impression, Education and Training, fake it till you make it, first impression, intriguing questions, project confidence, public speaking, Ralph Waldo Emerson, stories

This Week’s Resources for Speakers, Coaches, Consultants, and Other Solo Professionals

Here are a few resources for you – Enjoy!

• http://graceandcharmacademy.prfessor.com  - generate residual income!  Upload your courses – video course, eCourse, teleClass recordings, etc. – and get paid for it.  It works best if you drive some traffic to your page…  It’s another credibility booster, as the search engines will find you providing your courses here as well…
  Contact Natasha Rubin at nRubin[at]theGiftedAssistant[dot]net   [don't forget to replace the stuff in the parenthesis]
•  www.Kunaki.com – CDs on demand – they’ll even ship to to customers
  I just ha d to mention Kunaki one more time, it’s just so important for us speakers (coaches and other solo professionals).  You simply upload your mp3 and they’ll create a professional looking audio product for you.  Make sure you’ll check them out  They have very friendly prices.
• Find out your website’s rank and how to improve it – you also get a grade – super great tool! http://www.websitegrader.com – input you website address and marvel at the results and all the great tips that you’ll get (you can imput a competitor site, BUT you don’t have to)
• Connecting writers with editors: http://writersandeditors.com/ – You need an editor for your next written project – perhaps your book – this would be a great site to hook up with an editor.  For price comparison, shop arround at http://www.eLance.com ( at eLance make sure to check their past work and how much they got paid in the past - if they didn’t make much, they are either beginners or not too good at what they do — check their ratings as well)
•  http://business.animoto.com/ and http://www.animoto.com – create viral videos for your business.  They’ll provide you with a whole library of royalty free music.
  FREE and paid version available (I believe I paid around $25 per year)

Do you have any experience with the above resources?  Share with us your experience…

What are some of your favorite online resources?  Post some in the comment section…

…

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More From Public Speaking - Paid Speaker 101 - Get Paid for Your Expertise!

• Public Speaking… What’s the Difference between “Workshops” and “Seminars”?
• The TOP 5 Ways to Get Expossure, Raise Trust, and Sell More Sevices and Products
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Tags: animoto, charm and grace academy, coaches, Compact Disc, consultants, E-learning, editors, kunaki, Resources, Royalty-free music, speakers, video, Web Design and Development, Web search engine, Website, website grader, writers

Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #11 (of 101): Position Yourself as an Expert

Are You Perceived as an Expert on Your Topic?

People do business with people they know and trust… and we agreed that one of the best ways to get people to know you and trust you is through public speaking: worksops, seminars, keynotes…

That’s all true, but there’s a magical loop going on here.  The more you speak, the more you are perceived as an expert and the more you are perceived as an expert, the more you’ll be invited to speak…

Speak, Speak, Speak!

You see, to speak in front of crowds, you need 1. to get invited… or 2. you need to put on your own events.

I will tell you how to build your expert status, but first, let’s explore these two venues:

1. To get invited to speak at events, you need to be perceived as an authority in your topic… or at least you need to be known as very knowledgeable on your topic matter.  However, to get invited to speak at national – or even international events – you definitely need to be perceived as an expert in your topic.  And when you get to this point, that’s when you start getting paid the big bucks… When you get to this point, and you are an average speaker, this is when you’ll make $25oo.oo per speech, regardless of the length… and when you become a good speaker, that’s when you’ll start making $5ooo.oo and well beyond per presentation.  Now visualize speaking 1oo to 2oo times per year with this kinds of fees… Hmm… not bad, ey?

2. By putting on your own events, you can raise your expertise level in several ways:

a. You should consistently put on events that are on a very targetted niche [e.g. weight loss, productivity, stress management, internet marketing, etc. - it helps if it is even more niched, such as "How to Market Your Private Dental Practice"... or "Stress Management for Emergency Room Staff," etc.]

b. Record your presentations and repurpose them:
- create audio and/or video products
- create online courses out of them
- transcribe your presentations [have someone transcribe them - I know someone who can do it for $3o per speaking hour - let me know if you need that resource] and transform your presentation into a book or booklet… into a series of articles… into an eCourse… parts for your newsletter or eZine that you are sending to your subscribers/followers

c. Whenever possible, give your presentation an angle that sounds like it benefits the community [e.g. Effective Communication for parents - reduce child abuse, improve family values, etc.] and invite the media to your event: newspaper & TV

There are some possible challenges with events that you put on [and I've been through each of them]:

• to rent a professional looking space, it can be costly [I started out with $5o/day hotel meeting room, that held about 3o people... now, at times I rent space that costs $5oo and up for a full day; however, I speak mostly at events and I do only a very limited public workshops]
• marketing your event can cost you in the thousands…. or you can stick to less expensive methods, such as
  - putting your flyers on billboards,
  - giving your flyers and other marketing materials to company managers and inviting them to your event + putting it on their billboards,
  -  try to get radio interviews by calling the stations and telling them how your topic ties into the daily news or how it’d benefit the community.  Try not to promote your event, but rather have an interview on your topic and mention in your interview that “If you want to learn more, join me at my upcoming event on…, at…, etc.]
  - use Twitter, FB, and other social media like crazy
  - ask your friends and enemies to promote your event on their jobs and to their friends
  - talk to your local TV stations as well
• at times when you put on a public event, nobody seems to sign up for weeks… or you get only one or two people signing up… then in the last 2 days you have an influx of sign-ups, if you are lucky.  It can be really nerve wracking…

 
7 Ways to Build Your Expert Status

It takes a little time and some dedication to build an expert status, but the pay-off is well worth the time invested in it.  Here are a few ways that will help you develop your expert status:

1. Consistently publish articles online – don’t waist your time submitting your article to too many sites. www.eZineArticles.com and www.ArticleBase.com are the two most popular sites with most views.  Putting your article on more sites, does not raise your link popularity as it used to in the past [it used to be that the more links went to your site, the higher you were ranked; however, google now sees it that the links come from the same article published multiple times and it will only count it as one link]
2. Consistently publish articles offline in niched magazines, newsletters, newspaper, etc. – this is not so easy, but if you can pull this off, this is a great credibility adding factor.
3. Consistently try to get the media to write or talk about you – there are some great books out there that can help you with that, such as “How to Get on Radio Talk Shows All Across America Without Leaving Your Homre or Office,” by Joe Sabath; “Guerrilla Publicity,” by Jay Conrad Levinson and Jill Lublin; or “On the Air,” by Al Parinello…
4. Consistently upload videos to www.YouTube.com and www.Vidler.com and any other of your favorite video site you might have.  I’m using VideoWebWizard which has both a FREE version and a paid version [around $37 quarterly, if I remember correctly]; or you can use TrafficGeyser, which probably uploads your video to slightly more sites and podcasts, but it costs close to $1oo per month [they have a great affiliate program, so that's one way to recoup some of your investment - just with a few sales, you have your monthly fee paid for AND you make some more money...  Personally, I only use VideoWebWizard at this point - it's less costly and it provides almost the same service as TrafficGeyser.
5. Start a blog on your niche topic and consistently post to it valuable info, including industry reports, and other niche-related valuable info
6. Write your blog with the end in mind... Transform your blog - and your articles - into a book. The BOOK is the piece of the puzzle that proppels most speakers careers [as soon as my book - Communication Skills Magic - was out, I started getting countlessly more speaking gigs at fees that I was rarely been able to commend in the past]
7. Allign yourself with other authorities and experts in your field.  Interview them, co-present workshops, co-create products, co-author books and articles… get creative and get hooked – that is, hook up with other great minds in your niche…

If you follow the above points, it will be only a matter of time that you’ll be viewed as an expert in your field.  You want to get to the point where the prospect enters your name in the search engine and they get pages and pages of your articles, videos, program descriptions, etc. letting them know that when they hire you to speak at their next event you will deliver value.

As Lao Ce said “The thousand steps journey starts with a single step…”  Start your journey towards becoming an expert in your field today.  Write a short article or make a short video… and commit to follow all of the above points.  And once you accomplish that, send me a thank you note :}

…

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More From Public Speaking - Paid Speaker 101 - Get Paid for Your Expertise!

• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #3 (of 101) – How to Set Your Speaking Fees
• Secrets to Paid/Public Speaking Success – #2 [of 101] – How to Get More (or your first few) Speaking Gigs
• Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #10 (of 101): Take Massive Action – Make it Happen!

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Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #10 (of 101): Take Massive Action – Make it Happen!

Take Massive Action - Get Out there and Be Seen!!!

“The Constitution only gives people the right to pursue hapiness.  You have to catch it yourself.”  ~ Benjamin Franklin ~

Once you have a program in place, it’s time to stop planning and start implementing; and, fact is, you become good by practicing your skill as much as possible, and you start getting paid once you get out there and  market yourself.  Here are a few tips that will ensure that you’ll “Make it Happen”:

• Commit to contacting 5 to 10 businesses per day [or more, if your stomach can take it], ideally in person, or by phone.  Once you exhaust your local area, use the phone [I travel as far as 70+ miles to speak in person with company reps, and at imes I'l only see the receptionist...  I believe that nothing is as powerful as showing up in person and letting the other person see who s/he'd be dealing with if s/he hired me as a speaker.]
• Practice your skills by speaking at least once a week – ideally 2 to 4 times.
  Enroll in your local Toastmasters club – or in several, if your time permits – and make your speeches related to the workshops or keynotes you intend to give at company conferences and other paid gigs.  Toastmasters is the best place to mess up – not only no one will mind, but you’ll also get some constructive feedback.
  Volunteer to speak at
  - Rotary,
  - Banks,
  - Realtors,
  - Car Dealerships,
  - Insurance Agencies,
  - Chamber of Commerce Events (contact Chambers from around your area as well)
  _ Chamber of Commerce Groups (Young Entrepreneur Group, etc.)
  -  Health Clubs – YMCA, etc.
  Many of these places have weekly or monthly meetings where they invite outside speakers.  Insurance Agencies, Realtors, and other businesses might even be able to pay you a small fee…  The key, however, in the beginning is to get more and more PRACTICE and VISIBILITY.
• VIDEO RECORD EACH OF YOUR PRSENTATION WHENEVER POSSIBLE!!!!!! (You’ll thank me later, if you listen to me on this one…)
• Pick topics that fit your audience (Time Management, Productivity, Stress Management, etc.)
• Tweak your title to sound niche-specific: Time Management for Busy Realtors; Stress Management for Auto Sales Professionals, etc.

Take Massive Action – Get out there and be seen!!!

• Talk for free or fee as often as possible
• Put on teleclasses and webinars on your niche topic(s) (can have them transcribed and be the basis of a book or booklet)
• Always collect names and grow your list
• Write artices (check secret #11 on How to Position Yourself as an Expert in Your Niche)
• Start a blog in your niche and write your posts “with the end in mind..” – turn your blog posts into a book later

Take massive action!  If you want to make it as a speaker, you must be seen… and must be good… but most importantly, you need to get to a point where speaking is a second nature to you and can be ready to speak whenever you are needed.

If you only follow only one of the ”secrets” I shared with you - Secret #10 – you’ll already have a guaranteed success as a speaker.  Often all it takes is STOP PLANNING and TAKE ACTION!

“Do not confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving, but does not make any progress.” ~ Alfred Montapert, Writer ~

Remember!  If you do not have a professionally designed program, you can always get one at http://www.egSebastian.com/facilitator_kits

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Secrets to Paid Public Speaking Success #9 (of 101) – FailProof Your Speaking Business

Paid public speaking – or professional speaking – is very competitive; there are literally tens of thousands of speakers who want to make a living, or some on-the-side income, by presenting at conferences, association events, college and high school events, company training, or wherever they pay a speaker to deliver their message.

The attraction to paid speaking is understandable.  An average speaker gets paid anywhere from $25oo to $5ooo per speech – be that 2o minutes or a 2-day workshop.  Just multiply that by 3 or 4 per week… or by 12 or 15 per month – that is, the number of times an “average” speaker speaks at different events.  That’s an income that will attract lots of flies – oups, I meant people

So, is there such a thing as “FailProofing” your speaking career?

I’ll share a secret with you.  I’ve seen many better speakers out there then I am.  Yes, I’m funny and deliver decent content, but I’m not as professional as I’ve seen many other speakers – some of which, by the way, speak for free… yet, I get more speaking gigs than many of these great speakers, due to my positioning as an expert and because of my consistent marketing TO THE RIGHT NICHE.

Here are a few tips that will FailProof your paid speaking career:

1. Find a niche where you have some expertise… or at least some real passion and lots of knowledge
2. Position yourself as an expert, through articles, a very niched blog, video posts, write a book or two [they don't have to be long - but must solve your niches fears, pain, challenges, problems, etc], and ocasionally volunteer to speak at your niche related events
3. Market, market, market… Promote, promote, promote…  Spend at least 8O% of your time on marketing your speaking.  There’s a simple truth: the more you market yourself, the more speaking engagements you’ll get.  The key is to market yourself to entities that can afford your fees [exception when you market locally, you can work within their budget for a reduced fee]
4. Develop a demo video and work with speakers bureaus.  You’ll pay 2o to 3o% fee, but those are gigs that you didn’t have to move a finger to get
5. Treat your business like a REAL business.  Imagine you are the CEO of “YOU Inc.” and bring decissions acordingly, behave acordingly, and implement acordingly. 
   Make sure that Your Actions are in Line with Your Goals & Vision!
6. Provide topics that are mandatory or highly desired, such as Diversity programs, How to Avoid Sexual Harrasment Charges and Other Litigations, Improving Customer Service, Improving Team Performance, Improving Managers’ Performance, Dealing with Difficult Customers/People/Coworkers/etc. 
   Talk to employees – if you have a chance – and find out what type of training did they have to go through every year.  Do some research of your own on each company to find out what do they pay for year after year…. and if you have expertise or knowledge in that area, offer your services
7. Have a great program, so once you speak, you can easily get referrals [you can get professionally designed programs, with specific business solutions, at www.egSebastian.com/facilitator_kits]

Now I do realize that some of the above points are repetitions from some previous poionts, but I believe in the old mantra “Repetition is the mother of learning” – we often hear something once or twice and it flies right by our ears; but when we hear it the 3d or 1oth time, we finally get it and implement it.

One thing is sure: if you apply the above 7 points, you’ll be a bussy speaker with a healthy income.  The key is to be consistent and keep “sharpening the saw” – keep improving by speaking as often as you can.

Let me know what you think?  Do you have any questions or comments on the above points, write in the comment section and I’ll reply to each of your questions…

…

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Tags: Business, Business Services, Communication, Education and Training, fail proof your speaking, get paid to speak, market, marketing, more speaking gigs, promote, public speaking, Speech, successful speaker

Professional Package for Recording Audio Products

Would you like to extend your audience’s experience beyond the walls of your venue and time slot of your presentation? Here’s an opportunity to do that while increasing your bottom line. Creative Digital Studios can help you create CDs of your presentations to sell at your seminars and on your website. Knowing that the economic climate is rough, they are offering SpeakerMatch members a special discount on a range of equipment and services for recording audio on to CDs and other formats. Their client list includes corporations such as Delta, Waffle House, Bellsouth and a number of speakers just like you. They’ve created a done-for-you package as well as one that is suited for the do-it-yourselfer. Here is some of what you’ll receive…

 For more information and to see the special offer visit:

=====================================================
http://creative-digital.net/SpeakerSalesPage.htm
=====================================================

Sincerely,

Bryan Caplovitz
Founder
SpeakerMatch

P.S. You can go to their website to sample some of their work.

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Bonus Resources!

Resources

www.Kunaki.com – Create your audio products with kunaki!

• no upfront costs to create your product
• just email them the mp3 file and they’ll create your audio product
• support with CD cover design
• low cost
• they ship the product directly to your customers [drop shipping]
• no need to set up inventory, shopping cart, payment methods, etc. – they take care of all of that for you…

https://www.freeconferencing.com – Create audio products with FreeConferencing.com; and of course, your teleclasses.

• it records in pretty good quality
• it is FREE
• can allow your prospects, customers, etc. to listen online
• listeners can download the mp3 file online for later listening

www.Pandora.com – if you are not familiar with this gadget – and you love music – this is a must have. It’s an online radio that will remember your preferences and will play only the music you love…

You want some soft instrumental music while you work? You got it?

Some soothing yoga-type music, you got it!

Rock, pop, rap, country, etc. – it’s all there! Try it out!

http://www.sxc.hu - Royalty FREE Pictures

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More From Public Speaking - Paid Speaker 101 - Get Paid for Your Expertise!

• Speakers’ Resources | Become a Paid Speaker
• Useful Resources
• How to POSITION, PROMOTE and GET PAID as an Expert – by Brandon Burchard

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Tags: create product, download mp3, free teleconference, kunaki, mp3, pandora radio, product creation, Resources