Market Yourself as a Speaker

Finding Paid Public Speaking Jobs

Posted on July 29th, 2008.

The following post is written by my colleague James Malinchak

James and Susan at the NSA Convention

I want to help you start your motivational speaking business and train you to make more and more money in your motivational speaking career. One question I get all the time is, “James, how do I get paid public speaking jobs?” These jobs are out there but you need to know where to look in order to find them. Here are just a few ideas.

1) Look for organizations that work with your specific area of expertise. Taking a look at DECA marketing organizations like FCCLA would be an example for the niche I’m in. Another example: if I was in the real estate industry I’d take a look at the national board of realtors, investor associations or even the local community associations.

2) Research public speaking jobs in related associations within your niche. Don’t be afraid to network yourself and get the contact information of the conference coordinator even if you weren’t hired as their keynote speaker.

3) Increase your professional speaking success by creating a database of potential clients who may be hiring conference speakers in the future. Contact universities, colleges and professors. You can also try contacting your local speaker bureaus, non-profit organizations, corporations and even libraries.

4) When starting a motivational speaking business, you may want to check the speaker forums for jobs. You’ll find that many jobs aren’t paid ones, but they may help you build your credibility in your niche. The key thing to remember is to eventually go after higher and higher paying jobs instead of working for free.

5) As you start getting the hang of getting books for public speaking, you’ll begin to develop a system to keep track of all the places you’ll market yourself to. A helpful tool in providing contact information for organizations and conferences that are hiring motivational speakers is the internet. Search for “speakers wanted” or “calls for speakers” and you’ll have a hefty listing to work through.

6) You can even find directories that are published with lists of all the paying markets within a niche. It will provide you with enough content to keep your business going, however keep in mind that no directory is ever complete. The National Trade and Professional Associations Directory, The Directory of Association Meeting Planners and the Directory of Corporate Meeting Planners are the three main directories that can be helpful with research. While these directories cost quite a bit they will make researching your niche that much easier!

7) Referrals are the last source of potential paid public speaking jobs. Building up a network of peers and clients in your area of expertise can create referrals, helping to bring your name to the attention of event coordinators looking to hire. The person who markets first to event coordinator is the one who will get the job when they are ready to hire. Make sure you are the one there first!

One last thing I’ve got to share with you. Be sure to remember that you can always find the people who have the money you need to pay to hear you speak. With these resources you can get started on researching your particular area of expertise. And once you done a number of gigs, get out there and go after the big money!

James offers a College Speaking Success Bootcamp- December 4-7, 2008
check it out at…
Website: http://mach1.infusionsoft.com/go/csslanding/slevin/

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