Speaker Services E-Zine, February 2012

http://www.speakerservices.com

Serving the community since 1992

Full-Service Coaching, Marketing & Training for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Entrepreneurs & Business Professionals

Content:

- Note from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice

- Tweets & Blog Posts of Interest

Greetings,

We have been enjoying beautiful warm weather in Los Angeles and I have been out walking in the hood. This photo was taken as I walked along the canals in Marina del Rey.  I love the reflection in the water.

I hear this comment often from potential clients,  I can’t do this or that until every thing in perfect.  I say start with one step at a time and just do it!  My colleague Mark Victor Hansen said,  Do not  wait until everything is just right. It will never be perfect. There will always be challenges, obstacles and less than perfect conditions.  So what. Get started now. With each step you take, you will grow stronger and stronger, more and more skilled, more and more self-confident and more and more successful.  So what are you waiting for?

We have a busy weekend coming up. On Saturday I will be teaching Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop at the Speaker Services studio in Marina del Rey.  This workshop is  rich source of practical hands-on information for speakers, authors, entrepreneurs and coaches. Here are some of the items I will be sharing with the group:  Position, Present and Package your Message, Prospect, Market and Land Speaking Gigs, Profit from your Expertise – Create Multiple Streams of income, Craft a Presentation Package that Attracts Meeting Planners and how to Gain New Clients with the Power of  Social Media.  I have three slots open for February 4  Check it out http://t.co/vG1xhVJk 

Not in Los Angeles?  I work one on one with folks to build a customized package based on their needs. See http://www.speakerservices.com/marketing.html or  another small step would be to  purchase the workbook Market Yourself as a Speaker at the following link http://www.speakerservices.com/products/detail/94

Here’s another suggestion for folks who are on a limited budget and are taking baby steps.  Join our membership club the Speakers Community. You get 6o days for free to check out the value and benefits.  We interview two experts each month and have archived over 100 mp3′s in the library.  After 60 days it is a mere $19.95 a month.  I always say where can you get training for $10 an hour? Below you can see who the experts are that I am interviewing in February  Join now

Sunday we will be offering Video Works workshop preparing folks to create their message and feel comfortable in front of the audience plus marketing ideas.  Jack Barnard is the facilitator and he tells me he can take one more person. Sign up now

Here’s some exciting news. We have collaborated with Cindy Greenway of Hot Skills Training to offer a teleclass training for Virtual Assistants and Speakers to  learn how to find and land speaking opportunities. There is a preview call on Monday, February 6 and to our delight over 200 people have register for this call.  We think we hit a nerve! Learn more and Register here

There is a five part hands on training following the preview call in mid February and you can check it out and sign up now if you choose too.  It is very reasonable and a worthwhile investment.

Ursula Mentjes Speaker and Author of Sales Coach Now shared the following with me, Wow, everyone is so nice at the Starbucks in Culver City this morning (someone held the door open, someone else told me my hair looked nice! LOL-WOW)! Grabbing a cup of coffee before I share Selling with Intention with a new sales team. Thank you, Susan Levin, for this connection.

This could happen for you too if you are listed in Speaker Services Directory.  Ask me how.

In this e-zine Vickie Sullivan shares  the buzzword you will  hear more of:  meeting architecture. Dan Poynter talks about Apple Unveils iBooks Author and Kindle Publisher Tools and  an interesting post from Forbes Magazine about Three trends that change business: Mobile, Social and Cloud by Maribel Lopez.

Let me know how I can help you Speak Your Way to More Business.

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

310-822-4922 PT

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Introducing  Speaker & Author

Julie Orlov

Psychotherapist and author of The Pathway to Love shows how to navigate relationships to true intimacy and power, and how they can reveal the perfect conditions you need to heal, grow and transform your life.

Communication, Empowerment, Personal Development, Relationships, Womens Issues  See speaker listing 

See all of our Speakers and Authors

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In the Speakers Community for February

Join us for 60 days for free.  We interview two experts each month in a teleclass format and have archived over 100 mp3′s in the library.  After 60 days it is $19.95 a month.  I always say where can you get training for $10 an hour?  Join now

February 15, Get Paid for Every Speaking Event You Do, Shannon Cherry

Whether you get paid to speak or not, you could make more money for every presentation – and not with back of room sales but with sponsorships.


Corporate sponsors are looking for speakers to connect with audience and help promote their brands. As a matter of fact, sponsorship is a $17 Billion per year business, even though sponsorship marketing is in its infancy. Learn more/register

Feb 29, Making Mobile Marketing Work: Best Practices, Mary Barnett 

Are you ready for Mobile Marketing?


Mary Barnett will share key strategies and the information you need for get started with mobile marketing.

Designing a mobile marketing strategy is not simply a collection of isolated mobile campaigns. It involves the integration of mobile into all your digital and traditional marketing channels.  Learn more/register

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TIPS/ADVICE/RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION:

Clifton Andersons book:  A Year Wiser: 365 days of inspiration to Create a Phenomenal Year 

Excerpt: Inspiration 91

Laughter is power.  When you laugh, you show that you are above your circumstances.  When you laugh, you disarm tension and sneer at stress.  When you laugh, you nourish your soul with natural medicine.  When you laugh, you are choosing to be happy.  When you laugh, you are saying that you know you will look back on this one day and laugh, so why wait?  The book can be purchased at http://clifton-anderson.com/products/

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Check out Mark Mikelats, Speakers’ Lounge, mark@buildingaspirations.com 

Get his free newsletter weekly with leads. Recent leads.

Canada. The Professional Development Summit needs speakers for their event in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada on April 18, 2012.  For more information see: http://www.pdsummit.ca/

and

The Special Libraries Association needs expert speakers in the area of Mobile Apps for government.  This event is in Chicago, IL July 18, 2012.  Your proposal is due by February 20, 2012.  For more information see: http://tinyurl.com/7afqsbb

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Ideas for building a platform — Alyson Stanfield

Chris Brogans recent article, 97 Ideas for Building a Valuable Platform should be consumed and dissected by anyone trying to find an audience these days.

Among my favorites of the 97 ideas:

9. It is hard to create consistently without inspiration.

26. AUDIO is the secret to better video.

31. If you are the same as everyone else, how will we notice you?

56. The more you care about the success of others, the more you will be successful.

76. There are very few successes in the world that happened as solo acts.

These, and the other 92 ideas, are expanded upon in this post: chrisbrogan.com/97

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Three trends that change business: Mobile, Social and Cloud

Post in Forbes by Maribel Lopez

Businesses faces a dynamic landscape where both customer and employee demands are changing.  The world is changing, and there are three market shifts that are driving this change  mobile social and cloud. These trends change what we connect, how we connect and how we transact.

Obviously mobile is changing what is connected. We are moving beyond laptops and smartphones. It is moving to billions of connected devices as we connect tablets, cars, machinery and medical equipment. Ericcson and Cisco estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices by 2020 as we look to add sensors in just about everything. These devices can be as sophisticated as a tablet or as simple as a sensor that monitors humidity. Read on http://onforb.es/yfoxdn

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APPLE UNVEILS iBOOKS AUTHOR, Dan Poynter

TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER F-R-E-E, sign up at

http://parapublishing.com/sites/para/resources/newsletter.cfm

iBooks Author is a tool for building interactive textbooks, although it can be used to create other ebooks as well. Download free at http://bit.ly/AcvI9G

iBooks Author includes templates for ebook layout, offers a WYSIWYG-style editor, supports adding multimedia content and interactive features, and Imports from Word and Pages.

Books can be previewed in iBooks on the iPad, exported directly to Apples iBookstore, saved in iBooks format for sharing, or exported to PDF. Apple is restricting sales of books created with its app to the iBookstore.

iBook Author is available as a free download at Apples Mac App Store.

http://bit.ly/xZiqco

http://bit.ly/wESv9M

http://bit.ly/wnIGm2

http://bit.ly/AjN0r3

One more tip from Dan Poynter

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KINDLE PUBLISHER TOOLS WITH KF8 AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW

Kindle Publisher Tools – KindleGen and Kindle Previewer with Kindle Format 8 (KF8) support are now available for download. Kindle Format 8 is Amazons next generation file format offering a wide range of new features and enhancements  including HTML5 and CSS3 support that publishers can use to create all types of books. KF8 adds over 150 new formatting capabilities, including drop caps, numbered lists, fixed layouts, nested tables, call outs, sidebars and Scalable Vector Graphics – opening up more opportunities to create Kindle books that readers will love. Kindle Fire is the first Kindle device to support KF8 – in the coming months KF8 will be rolled out to the latest generation Kindle e-ink devices as well as the free Kindle reading apps. http://www.amazon.com/gp/feature.html?ie=UTF8&docId=1000729511

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MEETING OVERALLS ARE COMING,  Vickie Sullivan www.sullivanspeaker.com

Source: http://www.meetings-conventions.com/career-development/articles/reinventing-meetings/a44670.aspx

Like everything else, the structure of meetings and conferences are being overhauled.  And that is  a good thing.  In the good old days, structure stayed the same, then content was plugged in.  What is happening now and in the future: the structure will be designed around learning and experience.  The buzzword you will  hear more of:  meeting architecture.

Yes, the economy is driving these shifts.  But so is a belief we all need to be aware of:  buyers believe that everything they need to know is online.  Yep, our content is not ours anymore.  It is out there and anyone can take it.  So the emphasis now is on interaction and learning.  And we are not talking about using Twitter and text to ask questions.  Think: 30-minute presentations followed by 30-minute breaks.

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TWEETS OF INTEREST

- indle ebooks, copyrights, and your rights as an author when someone steals your work – http://t.co/PSphlHwn

- 2 Critical Elements Every Homepage Must Have [Infographic] http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31097/12-Critical-Elements-Every-Homepage-Must-Have-Infographic.aspx via @HubSpot

- Are you passionate about what you speak about? Short video http://bit.ly/zQG1Wf Customized marketing packets & 1 hour strategy sessions too.

- New Apps to Manage Your Social Networks | Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/3-new-apps-to-manage-your-social-networks/ via @smexaminer

- Are you a storyteller? Good stories allow audiences 2 add visual & emotional components 2 their assimilation http://bit.ly/wgJj9U #speaking

- The 50 Best Bookstores in the United Kingdom  really neat list http://askthebooksellers.com/united-kingdom-independent-booksellers Collaboration & will let our peeps know abt it soon.

- 3 Ways to Promote a Spiritual Book – good stuff here http://askthepublicist.com/3-ways-to-promote-a-spiritual-book

Marketing & Training Services since’92

http://www.speakerservices.com

Speaker Services E-Zine 1/4/12

CONTENT:

-  Note and Update from Susan Levin

- One Sheets Made Easy, Special Offer for 2012

- New Speakers & Authors

- Tips & Advice

- 10 Questions to Book More Business

- Workshops and Teleclasses

Greetings,

Happy 2012. It was a beautiful warm (85 degrees) day in Los Angeles on the first day of 2012. The sun was setting in Santa Monica as a group of us celebrated the new year together.

Do you know that Speaker Services is a  Full-Service Coaching, Marketing & Training Company for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Entrepreneurs & Business Professionals? Over the past twenty years we have coached and nurtured many of our clients to create six and seven figure incomes.

As a speaker marketing coach and owner of the online directory Speaker Services I am always keen on seeing how I can improve and assist my clients to grow their business and income through speaking. There are several ways we can work with you.  One on one marketing consultations customized to your needs, get listed in the directory and connect with audiences who want to hear your message, workshops, teleclasses, video workshops and more.

Speaking is a business and we want you to be successful. E-mail me if you would like to set an appointment to discuss your needs  susan@speakerservices.com

Last week I opened my e mail to a delightful and surprise message from MJ. All I can say is, I did not pay him to write the following message and he is right on! Here is what he wrote.  Yes, I knew I needed a One Sheet. So, I looked at a few dozen of One Sheets  then modeled mine after the one I like the most. No luck.

Your post on LinkedIn suggests to us that we email you for samples of your work. I am interested, many of us should be. New speakers may not be thinking of our one sheet as being very important but it seems that it is an intricate but overlooked part of our ‘first impression.

There is no better time than now for many of us (newbies) to invest in a professional to develop our one sheets. I believe the real selling benefit is that our tiny investment could pay for itself in just one event.

What MJ is referring to is the offer for One Sheets Made Easy.  If you missed it here it is.

Event producers are more likely to hire you if you have a double-sided, 4-color one sheet which tells them in a nutshell what you speak about, and then some.

We know that it is sometimes tricky to write your own copy, so we have developed a coaching package called One Sheets Made Easy.

Jean-Noel Bassior, our team member, is a journalist who specializes in speaker, author and celebrity interviews, and she will focus, coach and guide you by phone as you fill out a template that gives event planners a colorful snapshot of what you have to offer their audience. When you send the completed template back to Jean-Noel, she will turn it into the copy for your one sheet.

Our 2012 one sheet special is $400 (2 payments may be arranged). This includes the focusing session, rewrite of your copy. and blocking it into sections for the graphic artists.

Thinking about getting listed with our directory? See what our speakers are saying. http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.htm

To your speaking and marketing success.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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New Speakers and Authors:

See all featured speakers:

- Meet Jacqueline Robertson. Successful author and entrepreneur known as “The Dream Sister” shows how using only 20% of your effort can bring you 80% or more of what you want when you work with proven universal laws.  http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/66

- Meet speaker & authors of Nude: Unveiling Your Inner Beauty & Sensuality Kym Jackson &Theresa Roemer. Two fun-loving girlfriends offer life-changing advice to help women look, feel and be the best they can be. http://t.co/G1AFoRlh

Meet speaker author & actor Stephen Tako.  Actor and motivational speaker shows how to find the courage, drive and enthusiasm to act on your passion and dreams at any age.    http://t.co/FGcdX2Vv

See all speakers and authors

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A Gift for YOU

I am re gifting a fantastic resource to you from my colleague Donna Gunter.  She shared, If you have not made any resolutions for improving your marketing efforts this year, promise that you will steal at least one tip from this free PDF ebook, The Best of Get More Clients Online Business Automation Tool of the Week of 2011 and do it.

This is offered to you as a New Year’s gift–along with my enthusiastic recommendation to re gift it to your friends and clients.

Feel free to re gift this to your friends.  No opt in required!  Just send them to this page http://www.getmoreclientsonline.com/best-of-2011/, for their own copy!

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10 Questions to Book More Business by Lois Creamer

1. Does your company used paid, professional speakers? I say paid because many use speakers, not all pay.

2. How is the decision made regarding speakers? I am asking the person I am speaking to confirm he/she is the sole decision maker.

3. Who have you used in the past? This may give you an idea of what topics they have historically used and how much they have paid for this information.

4. Do you have a specific meeting date set? Pretty obvious what we want here.

5. When do you begin to plan your meeting? Great to know when the meeting is, but important to know when plans are made so we can make sure we are talking to them at the optimum time for getting the booking.

6. Where will the meeting be held? Here I am looking to see if I may create some kind of competitive advantage for myself. For example, I live in St. Louis. If the meeting is going to be in Chicago my expenses would be very reasonable. If they are deciding between me and a speaker in LA, I may get the job based on travel.

7. Is there as theme or focus to this meeting? Again, pretty obvious.

8. Is there a budget I should be aware of? Here is the money question! We need to bring up fee! Remember to talk about your fee as if it were a commodity. See previous post on fees.

9. What type of meeting is this? Is it quarterly, annual, semi ­annual? We want to find out how many opportunities a year this prospect may have to hire us.

10. Is there anything that I have not asked you that you would like me to know about your meeting? This is really a closure question. They will bring up any other questions they may have.

If you have the answer to these questions you should be able to quantify how likely it is that you two will be working together or not.

That is it! 10 little questions that will move you from prospect to client! Now go do some prospecting!

Copyright 2011, Lois Creamer. Lois Creamer works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes! 

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Vickie Sullivan shares: Predictions for this year are still coming in fast and furious. 

The new A list speakers:  traditional  I have  been on the circuit for years speakers are in for a wake up call.  Speakers with less experience are getting the big fees.  Who are they?  CEOs of cool companies.  Public speaking is now the favorite way to get your ideas out there.  As more CEOs write books, speaking is sure to follow.  Their experience changing the world trumps delivery style.  It is gonna be a bumpy ride for many speakers.

Those with the most followers win:  want to be famous?  Start on social media and rack up those followers.  It used to be popular authors got the attention.  Look for popular bloggers with big followings to be courted by publishers and media.  And, yes, they will get on the speaking circuit, too.

Meetings are not going away.  Some say that virtual companies will replace conventions and conferences.   Not so fast.  As long as business is being conducted face-to-face, meetings are here for a while.

My prediction:  the movers and shakers will show up.  The less interested or low price folks will stay in the bleachers.  Remember, meetings are not just about the information.  Folks go to meet people.

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WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles

What’s the fastest way to get booked as a speaker? If you’re an author, coach, entrepreneur, CEO or expert at what you do, and you want to speak about your area of expertise, there’s a lot you can do on your own to get gigs. You or your Virtual, Personal or Admin Assistant can learn to successfully contact meeting planners!

Teleclass series- Jan 16, 23, 30 & Feb 6, 2012  Find and Land Speaking Opportunities four part teleclass series  register 

or January 21, Find and Land Speaking Opportunities Workshop in Los Angeles, Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior learn more

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Saturday, February 4,  Market Yourself as a Speaker, Susan Levin

Are you a seasoned expert with years of advice and experience to pass along? Whether you are an executive, educator or salesperson you could be missing out on an important source of your income: THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT.

The information, techniques and tools that you’ll receive from attending Market Yourself as a Speaker are essential to building your speaking business.

Read more/register

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Sunday, February 5, Video Works:  Everybody Needs Video Workshop, Jack Barnard

This 7-hour workshop will bring you totally up-to-speed regarding video and the best uses for you.

 Here’s what will be covered:

- Content: So many possibilities, what are the most important aspects for you to cover?

- The Art of Small Talk: Your audiences are already sound-bit, delivering your material in 30-90 seconds in a succinct, interesting, authentic manner is essential.

- Presence: Information is important, but all the magic happens in the present moment. How do you do that looking straight into a camera?

- Marketing: Susan Levin will enlighten the class on all the ways that short professional videos can utilized.

- Practice video shoot: At the last part of the day, participants will be videotaped by a professional videographer and then critiqued trying out one of their favorite themes. This is for practice & reflection. Participants will be given a copy of the recording to study at home.
Learn more

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UPCOMING TELELCLASSES

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY

See what the Speakers Community Membership club has in store for 2012.

Join for 60 days for free & access past mp3′s http://t.co/Q9rpTiAS

1/12, Build Your Speaking Empire with Info Products, Toni V. Martin, learn more/register

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1/26, Happiness Is An Inside Job, Lisa Cypers Kamen. Flourishing Outside of the Box. How to Create Opportunities to Share What You Know & Love With Others, learn more/register

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2/15, Get Paid for Every Speaking Event You Do, Shannon Cherry, Whether you get paid to speak or not, you could make more money for every presentation and not with back of room sales but with sponsorships. learn more/register

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TWEETS & POSTS

- Read the No-Harm Marketing Manifesto and pass it along: http://yudkin.com/noharm.htm

- Implement the business of speaking Workshop 2/4 in LA or one-on-one w Susan Levin Speaker Services owner http://t.co/q29BKy4H

- Thanks Susan Levin for an awesome interview yesterday on Marketing Matters. Discover the essentials of becoming a great speaker, marketing tips and how to generate leads from your audience. Catch the replay at http://t.co/PTcN8jeU

- SpeedConsulting: fun meeting format for member-based orgs to spur member-to-member learning, friendship & collaboration http://bit.ly/aTeYbB

- Marketing Concept: 14 Questions for Completing and Remembering 2011 http://www.doitmarketing.com/blog/bid/79873/Marketing-Concept-14-Questions-for-Completing-and-Remembering-2011 via @dnewman

- How Timeline Radically Changes Your Facebook Marketing Strategy http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/30305/How-Timeline-Radically-Changes-Your-Facebook-Marketing-Strategy.aspx via @HubSpot

- Create a Custom Welcome Tab for Your Facebook Fan Page http://www.bloggingbasics101.com/2011/03/create-a-custom-welcome-tab-for-your-facebook-fan-page/ via @chilihead

- Top 10 Facebook Apps for Fan Engagement and Building Community  Social Media Examiner http://t.co/sjNdBdzE  via @smexaminer

- Video Works: Everybody Needs Video Workshop in Los Angeles http://bit.ly/u27N1a

- Speakers Your Marketing Plan video tips http://t.co/xiRHGJIO   Ask me about our one sheet 2012 special susan@speakerservices.com #speaking

- Post How can I get a bureau 2 book me? I would like 2 hire someone 2 get me bookings & give them a percentage.. Is this a good plan? http://t.co/1BaA4roe

- How Sponsors Define Value  Market Yourself as a Speaker: http://bit.ly/s0XbnE

Post by Steve Markman

Marketing mix: Your marketing and PR efforts should be in the forefront of your organization, given today’s competitive climate and the uncertain economy. Standing out from the crowd, regardless of your organization’s industry, is a huge challenge. How can you meet this challenge?

Many organizations have recognized the value of holding seminars at which their executives make presentations. The problem with these seminars is that, more often than not, the attendees are existing customers, clients or individuals who are already familiar with the firm.

Companies need to expose their expertise to prospective customers and clients. What is a proven method of accomplishing this objective? By speaking at public forums – at conferences, seminars and forums held by independent event organizations, associations, professional and industry trade groups, and academic institutions and think tanks – enormous exposure is created.

There is much evidence in the field of professional services marketing that speaking in public forums often results in new business, by providing increased awareness of your company in general and specific subject areas in particular, to an audience of your potential customers or clients. Presentations about industry trends or “how-to” talks can make a large impact on your audience.

Speaking opportunities for consulting firm principals, corporate executives and entrepreneurs represent a strong marketing, public relations, and business development tool for the following reasons:

    1.    Attendees get to learn about your firm’s expertise firsthand and can interact directly with your speaker immediately before or after the presentation. An attendee asking for a business card can be the first step to obtaining a new client. The press in attendance also present opportunities for added exposure.

    2.    Gaining increased visibility in vertical/industry sectors or broad-based areas that your firm has determined is in need of greater exposure. This can be an established line of business where your firm speaks from a position of strength and is known as a “go-to” firm for a particular area. Conversely, presentations can cover an area that is just getting off the ground or at an early stage in its development and needs some fast exposure to let your potential customers know about your newly offered products or services.

    3.    Your company gains “advertising” by having its name and your executive speaker’s name published in the agenda of thousands of brochures and promotional announcements mailed or e-mailed by event organizers.

What should your professional services firm be doing to get your executives and managers out on the speaking circuit? Take the following eight steps:

    1.    Decide which product or service area(s) your firm should be targeting for increased visibility. Make sure that you have executives in those areas committed to the idea of making public presentations. Some will resist the idea of taking time away from other business activities so make sure that you have their full support.

    2.    Get the right speaker on board. Proposed speakers should be experienced executives and, preferably, experienced speakers. Small-to medium-sized organizations should nominate their CEO or other senior executive. Large organizations can also nominate staff at the director or manager level, depending on the criteria of the speaking opportunity.

    3.    Speak to the right audience. Thoroughly research the events for which representatives of your firm can be proposed as speakers, as solo presenters or as panelists. There are so many events taking place on so many topics, frequently simultaneously, that you’ll need to choose diligently in order to maximize the time and expense associated with speaking. Identify speaking engagements whose audience represents the customers and industries your organization wants to reach.

    4.    Develop a proactive speaker placement program. It’s fine to evaluate unsolicited speaking opportunities. However, having someone dedicated to the task who will aggressively identify opportunities, develop relationships with event organizers and write and submit speaker proposals, should lead to an increase in the frequency of speaking engagements and thus increased visibility for the executives participating and the firm as a whole.

    5.    Decide on the geographic area to target for speaking engagements – locally, regionally, nationally or even internationally. There are thousands of speaking opportunities held worldwide every year.

    6.    Create high-impact presentations. Audiences want to get actionable information they can take back to their organizations. They don’t want to hear that your firm is the leading firm in this or that subject area. A solid, informative presentation that covers applications or technologies and is not product or company specific will create instant credibility and obviate the need for a “sales pitch.” A presentation that turns out to be a sales pitch will ensure low evaluations by the audience and a one-way ticket home from the conference organizer. The speaker who gives a sales pitch is duly noted and rarely invited back, oftentimes tainting the entire company in the eyes of the event organizer.

    7.    Learn the process for submitting a speaker proposal to the event organizer – follow the format established by the organizer for writing a presentation abstract, submitting bios and speaker expertise, previous speaking experience information, and, of course, meeting the proposal deadline date. Make sure you tailor the abstract and the bio to each speaking opportunity so that they fit the objectives of the audience.

    8.    Follow up continuously and persistently with the event organizer to help your company stay above the noise, since you will often be competing with several other companies for the same speaking slot.

By developing an effective speaker placement program for your organization, you will have taken a big step in meeting your marketing, PR, and business development objectives.

=====

Steve Markman is President of Markman Speaker Management (MSM) a Needham, Mass.- based speaker placement and conference development firm established in 1994.

This is a post from my colleague Lois Creamer Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com

My next two blog posts are going to address some questions  I’ve been asked constantly ever since I started my consulting practice for speakers. They are:

• How can I get a bureau to book me?
• I’d like to hire someone to get me bookings and give them a percentage of my fee. Is this a good plan?
• I receive solicitation emails from companies offering me leads if I pay them a monthly fee. Is this a good deal?

I’m going to talk about bureaus exclusively in this post, and the next two questions on part two of my post. If I had a buck or two every time I’m asked one of these questions, I’d be enjoying an umbrella drink on a beach somewhere.

How can I get a bureau to book me? My short answer is .. you can’t. Don’t waste your energy. Use your energy towards getting your own bookings. Bureaus are interested in working with “working” speakers. Speakers who are in demand. Those who are getting great reviews out in the industry for delivering great information in a compelling way.

If you don’t work with a bureau, you may want to see if one of your colleagues would offer an introduction for you. Your colleague will want to have seen you and really believe that what you have to offer is a fit for a particular bureau. Your friend may contact the bureau and ask his or her bureau representative to take a look at your material and see if he thinks your information would be a fit for their clients.

All bureaus don’t work with all types of businesses. This is an epiphany to some some. There are bureaus that work primarily with corporations, associations, health-care, agriculture, financial services and more. Your program must match the bureaus emphasis and their clientele.

Some bureaus host “Speaker Showcases”. They invite speakers to do 15-20 minutes of their best stuff in front of bureau clients and reps. Some charge for this, some do not. It is a great way to get in relationship with a bureau. It is only effective, however, if bureaus reps show up at the showcase.

Also, be aware that bureaus will expect you to provide what they call “bureau friendly” marketing materials for them. This simply means that your contact information should not appear on the material. The bureau wants the client to contact them, not you. You will want to have printed and PDF’s bureaus friendly.

Bureaus ask for a percentage of your speaking fee as payment for getting you the engagement. Current average is 25-30%. Some speakers think this is too high, and that bureaus are greedy. I don’t. If a bureau brings business to your door, handles all of the details for you, I think it’s worth every penny. Whenever I hear a speaker begrudging paying the percentage I always say, “Don’t work with them!” Bureaus can open doors that many would not be able to open themselves. If you work with a bureau for pete’s sake don’t whine about what you are paying them!

Besides paying the bureau a percentage, you are expected to promote the bureau during your visit and encourage the client to return to the bureau for future meetings. Also, audience members who enjoy the speaker and may want to use him/her are to book through the bureau. This is considered “spin-off” business. If not for the bureau, you would not have gotten the opportunity.. You are expected to contact the bureau and let them do the paperwork,contact the client and take care of the details.

Some bureaus even have “exclusive rights” or an “exclusives” with the speaker. This is the same as having an agent. It means all business goes through the bureau or agent and they take their percentage. Even if they didn’t get the business, if you have an exclusive arrangement, you must run it through them. I suggest to my clients that they never agree to an exclusive arrangement. It will actually cause other bureaus to lose interest in you. They will be expected to split their percentage with the other bureau, and many don’t think it’s worth it. Ultimately it may cause other bureaus to stay away from you.

Because bureaus get paid by percentage of fee they aren’t interested in working with speakers who are real beginners. It only makes sense! They have to make money too.

I always encourage my clients to work with a bureau if a situation presents itself. It’s a great addition to your own efforts to grow your business. You can learn a lot from bureaus about the business of speaking. I have. Some of my clients have been bureaus who hired me to work with their reps to sell speaking services more effectively.

All in all, working with bureaus can help you cast a wider net and that’s what it’s all about!

Copyright 2011, Lois Creamer. Lois Creamer works with professional speakers who want to book more business, make more money and avoid costly mistakes! She can be reached in the following ways:

Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com
Twitter: @loiscreamer

B2B Cold Calling Best Practices

By Maria Pergolino Marketo blog

This is a great post as it provides six steps to getting the sale and getting past the gatekeeper. How a business can realize tangible results from this marketing method?

Is cold calling dead? Patrick Donnelly said cold calling was in a blog post recently, but only if it has not evolved from the smile and dial of years past.   Even as social media and web applications become mainstream B2B marketing platforms, cold calling remains one of the most effective ways to make contact with decision makers, but only if done right. Cold calling can increase the number of prospects, appointments and sales. So how can a business realize tangible results from this marketing method?

There are some smart tips and techniques to fulfilling a successful cold call campaign:

1.    Target. Aim for the right industries. Seek out contacts at the right level. Get the direct line of someone that can make decisions on what you have to offer.

2.    Research. Can’t make the connection? Use online resources. Information sources like LinkedIn, Data.com and ZoomInfo can be indispensible for making contact. This may also help you understand more about their business.

3.    Strategize. Sometimes it takes some prospecting to find and talk to the right person. Once the right person is found, gatekeeper administrators can keep you away. Some great times to call in order to reach the right person are midweek and early in the morning, just before the top of every business hour or between 5:00 and 6:00 PM.

4.    Include. Cold calling shouldn’t stand alone. It should be fully integrated into your marketing campaign, as it is often most effective when accompanied by email and direct mail communications.

5.    Propose. Once contact is made, make an offer that is compelling. Address one of the major challenges your prospect is likely facing. Being capable of solving a problem can bring you half-way to a sale.

6.    Relent. There is a fine line between persistence and annoyance. Once the line is crossed, it can be hard to get the prospect back. Before making another call or sending one more e-mail, put yourself in the prospect’s shoes. What actions would make you turn away from a deal?

Cold calling is an invaluable B2B marketing technique for businesses. Even if a prospect isn’t ready to buy, the phone offers a great opportunity to personally introduce your brand. By leaving a positive image, cold calling encourages and nurtures the possibility of a future sale.

Need some help putting your message together to leave a voice mail that gets you a call back?  Speaker Services offers coaching.  E-mail susan@speakerservices.com for a complimentary appointment.

Update 9/28/11

Hello,

I was going to save the following information to share with you at the beginning of the month. However, it was so right on that I just could not wait to share it with you.  You see I posted the following two items around on social media and received many comments and I felt this might be of great interest to you now.  Business is changing rapidly and we need to keep our finger on the pulse of the industry.  The is a compelling post Your Conference Audience Is Dead Velvet Chainsaw | Midcourse Corrections, jhurt@velvetchainsaw.com

It used to be that face to face presentations were one of the most important places people would go to get new, cutting-edge, critical information.

They would pay a conference registration fee, airfare, lodging and expenses to attend a conference just to get that new information.

But that has changed with the click of the mouse.

Information Is Ubiquitous

People no longer need to go to presentations to get information. They can Google it.  Or Bing it.

They can get it from blogs, enewsletters, ezines, Facebook, LinkedIn, online reports, Scribd, Slideshare, Twitter or other websites. The thought that your organization has exclusive content that can not be found elsewhere online is absurd and in denial.

Content is now dispersed across multiple platforms and our engagement with it is more fleeting. Our personal habits now control our flow of information. Our willingness to commit to 60- to 90-minute presentation to get a piece of critical information has decreased.

With the proliferation of information everywhere, audiences look for other things to do at your conference. They look for opportunities to become participants, to collaborate, to network and to share.

Read the rest and the bottom line.

My colleague speaker and marketing consultant Lois Creamer, Book More Business wrote the following How to be a Multi-thousandaire Like Me! I can not stand some of the promotions we see promising Make a Million doing this, that or whatever.  In fact, usually I do not even believe the person promoting the event has ever seen a million, forget making a million.

As for me, I am a multi-thousandaire and happy. Do not get me wrong, I would not mind becoming a millionaire. I am just a realist. Truth is, most speakers and consultants I know are more like me in the money department. That said, I love to hang around with people who are much smarter, richer and funner than me. Funner? Is that even a word? It should be if it is not.  Read the rest of the blog post.

I would like to hear your thoughts on the above.

Very powerful information here.  It is as if they put words in my mouth.  I read this information with great interest as this is exactly the way I have been running my business since 1992.

We market and train experts who want to grow their business and income through speaking.  We never promise that they will get 99 clients in 99 days or make a 7 figure income right off the bat. We start at the very beginning if need be and teach our business folks how to put together a compelling talk that can create lead generation.  When ready we can market them to organizations, companies and associations who want them to speak to their audiences.  We accomplish this through a listing in Speaker Services directory.  Our team can write marketing materials, train your VA’s or assistants how to prospect for gigs for you as well as how to leave a voice message that gets you a call back.

Did you know that we offer a complimentary session on speaker marketing? I will give you content and answer your question and make recommendations as to how we can assist you further.  If you are interested e-mail me susan@speakerservices.com and I will schedule an appointment for you.

Make sure to visit our website http://www.speakerservices.com .

If you are in S. California and you are ready to learn how to master your message and market your message and prospect for speaking engagements then sign up right now for the following $99 event.

See program and registration at: http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbizla

Gain Credibility, Boost Your Visibility And

Get More Clients By Talking Up Your Business

These days, if you are a would-be speaker, a business hotshot, an entrepreneur or a network marketer; if you have a product, service or about-to-be-realized dream; you absolutely need to be speaking about it, do seminars & workshops about… you need a kick-butt website, you need to blog about, to social network about, to get great publicity about and you definitely need to know all the up-to-the-minute marketing tricks!

In short: to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media maven: a compelling presenter…a website wizard…a publicity hound…a master marketer.

- FIND the niche that suits your passion and skills and what is uniquely marketable about your mission

- PRODUCE presentations that captivate and attract attention…motivate action and get results

- LEARN marketing secrets and strategies to show you how to attract and reach your ideal clients

- IMPLEMENT the latest technologies: social media, blogging, mobile marketing, video, YouTube to boost your visibility

- MASTER the art of speaking and selling with intention

Talk Up Your Business brings together four state of the art experts in their respective fields:

Susan Levin, Jack Barnard, Ursula Mentjes, Jean-Noel Bassior

Date:  Monday, October 17, 9am-5:30pm, Venice, CA
Investment $99, Seating Limited

See program and registration at:

http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbizla

A Speaker Services Production

See you at Talk Up Your Business LA

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
susan@speakerservices.com

September 21,  2011 Update

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services http://www.speakerservices.com

In this issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- Tweets & Blog Posts of interest

Greetings,

I want to personally invite all of our Los Angeles business folks, speakers, authors, coaches and entrepreneurs to join us on Monday October 17 for a one day event Talk Up Your Business, Master the Message, Master the Marketing .  Only attend though if you are interested to Gain Credibility, Boost Your Visibility and Get More Clients By Talking Up Your Business.

Here are a few of the items that Susan Levin, Jack Barnard, Jean-Noel Bassior and Ursula Mentjes will be sharing with you.

- LEARN marketing secrets and strategies to show you how to attract and reach your ideal clients

- DESIGN an effective website that helps your clients hire you on the spot for their event

-  IMPLEMENT the latest technologies: social media, blogging, mobile marketing, video, YouTube to boost your visibility

-  COMMUNICATE your key message to the news media and learn how to get publicity that increases your credibility and lead generation

-  EXPAND your short talk into any length presentation, for any audience, for any purpose

My promise to you is – tons of content, interaction and no hard sell.  Your investment is only $99 with a money back guarantee

Jump right onto the website now and  read the program and sigh up at the incredible reasonable investment of $99.

Our team has been training Virtual Assistants for speakers and authors this past month. The question that we always get asked is, “How do I prospect for speaking gigs and then how do I get past the gatekeeper to the decision maker and what kind of message can I leave to get a call back?” My answer is,  :It all has to do with your website and your marketing materials. No one can book you if we do not have a clear idea of the problem you solve for your target industry.”  Do you need help?

Say you have landed a speaking gig.  Do you know how to ask the event coordinator the proper questions to customize for their audience?  Do you have a  pre program questionnaire? Hint it resides under the link For Meeting Planners. Joyce Newman shares in a blog post, It is always amazing when speakers do not ask the meeting organizer questions about the audience in advance of writing their presentations. Lets start with the most obvious one: – Who are they and how were they selected to be participants? – How many are attending?   Read the rest of the post.

Need help? Since 1992 Speaker Services has been supporting professional folks in growing their business and income through speaking.  Speaking is a business.

Speaker Services team can support you in several ways.

Meet Speaker Services team

- Join the Speakers’ Community Membership Club, Audio/MP3 library of experts. 60 days complimentary.

- Workshops: Los Angeles & Orange County

- Get a speaker listing in our paid listing service since 1992.  We bring speakers and experts together with audiences. Read more

-  We can write your promotional materials which include: a speaker listing, call for proposals, speaker/author one-sheets, media profile, your bio and introduction with team members. See list and descriptions

-  Branding, Presentation, Media Training with team members.

- Private One on One Marketing Consultations with Susan Levin.

For a complimentary 20 minute conversation & or review e mail Susan Levin at susan@speakerservices.com  for an appointment.  Allow me to put together a customized program just for you.

TWEETS & BLOG POSTS OF INTEREST

- Amazon Continues to Disintermediate Publishers – BusinessWeek http://buswk.co/o5uRd0 via @BW

- Join us for Websites that Sell 4 Experts, Authors, Speakers teleclass interview w Kriste Rimmele 9/26, http://t.co/olPwK2b2

- Google+ Now Available to Everyone, Adds Search Functionality more via @HubSpot

- @donnagunter Article Marketing: 7 Steps to a Great Author Resource Box That Drives Targeted Tra.. t.co/T1QghDxe always great info

- “Everything in your life is there as a vehicle ⁰for your transformation. Use it!” – Ram Dass

- Blog post: The Point of Humor http://bit.ly/plvEMX Humor relaxes the audience, breaks the tension& creates an opening.

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, 310-822-4922

September 2011 E-Zine

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services http://www.speakerservices.com

In this issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- Meet our featured speakers & authors
- Tips and Advice
- Teleclasses & Workshops
- Tweets & Blog Posts of interest

Today I am sharing with you new reports about the meeting attendees that several of my colleagues posted in their blog or e-zine.  Also be sure to read tweets and blogs of interest as there are many interesting items ie: 17 Things Marketers Should Delete From Their Facebook Strategy NOW.

I am wondering Are you talking up your business?   Speaking is the fastest path to more clients, more credibility and more business.  As an author, consultant, coach, service professional or entrepreneur, speaking establishes your expertise, while marketing you at the same time.

But how do you get those speaking gigs? What do you need to have in place to get meeting planners to book you? How do you create a compelling message that you can adapt to any audience, lengthen or shorten at will and create a huge impact? How do you create massive visibility from your speaking gigs and leverage this publicity into more leads and more clients?

Whether you are new to speaking or are an expert with multiple speaking engagements under your belt, there are ways to profit from speaking that you probably have not even considered.

There are so many moving parts and angles that you have to master.

You can find the answers at the Los Angeles Talk Up Your Business, Master the Message, Master the Marketing on Monday, October 17

See the website and the program and sign up now as the seating is limited and it is only $99. http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbizla

The Improv group led by jack Barnard finished their class with a performance.  Friends and family members had a great time.  In this photo is Ryan Jackson, Norah Edelstein and Raj Sharma doing a scene.

Enjoy the holiday weekend.  I hope you have some fun activities planned.

Speak your Way to More Business.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services
susan@speakerservices.com
310-822-4922 PT

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FEATURED SPEAKERS & AUTHORS FOR SEPTEMBER 2011

Click on name for full description and contact information.

	Michael Hingson — San Francisco, Nationwide, International Blind sales executive and Guide-dog user who survived 9-11 reflects on trust, teamwork, ethics, diversity, animal-human bonds, and human values. Topics: 9-11, Diversity, Motivational, Team Building
	Devin C. Hughes — San Diego, CA Coach, trainer and former athlete shows how to conquer the sense of alienation called “The Isolation Syndrome” and get your life back. Topics: Bullying, Cultural Diversity, Learning Disorders, Motivational, Parenting and Children
	Brenda Lane-Oliver — Maryland, Nationwide Performance coach/author reveals how to bring out the best in teams, managers and employees and shows women how to move up the career ladder with passion, dignity and determination. Topics: Leadership, Marketing, Success, Women’s Issues
	Susan Levin — Los Angeles Susan Levin specializes in helping business people attract a steady stream of ideal clients by marketing their business and income through speaking. Topics: Business Building, Business Opportunities, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Speaker Marketing
	Ursula Mentjes — Anaheim, S. CA Certified NLP Coach, author and sales expert Ursula Mentjes offers mindset shifts and strategies to make selling easy and significantly increase sales. Topics: Business Building, Entrepreneurship, Goal Setting, Sales
	Lawrence Polsky — New Jersey, Nationwide Executive coach reveals practical ways to energize you and your team as you face new challenges filled with conflict and change. Topics: Change, Conflict Resolution, Leadership, Team Building
	Jothy Rosenberg — New England, Nationwide Author, extreme athlete, entrepreneur and two-time cancer survivor empowers others to say “I CAN” in the face of major challenges. Topics: Disabilities, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Inspirational, Motivational, Success
	Kathryn Tull, MFT — Los Angeles Relationship specialist, therapist and trainer offers powerful techniques that help you feel heard and appreciated as you boost self-worth, honor your past, and reclaim your power in the present. Topics: Abuse, Family, Motivational, Personal Development, Relationships
	Christy Waters, RN, BSN, MA, CLNC — Los Angeles Registered Nurse and Certified Legal Nurse Consultant (CLNC) with pharmaceutical background shows legal professionals how to review medical data so you can decide if a case is worth your time and effort. Topics: Health Care Business, Legal, Medical & Nursing Malpractice

SEE ALL SPEAKERS

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TIPS AND ADVICE

- New Report About Meeting Attendees

Vickie Sullivan  www.sullivanspeaker.com

Do you think virtual attendees  those who attend conferences from the comfort of their cubicle multi-task more than the audience you speak to right in front of you? Nope everyone (over 80%) is checking their email during your presentation, according to this fascinating study about meeting attendees both virtually and face-to-face.

Conducted in May by PCMA (Professional Conference Management Association), so this data is pretty fresh.  Most interesting finding:  the different motivations between virtual and physical attendees.  The former signs on for the value of the content (97%) and ease of use (90%).  The latter gets on a plane to meet with the speakers and colleagues (68%) and to meet more customers and prospects (56%).  And everyone (over 80%) seems very comfortable networking with strangers both online and off.  (Thank you, social media!)

Pay attention to this finding content marketing and distribution needs are not being met.  Distribution on all devices yes, that means smart phones is now expected. Getting information before, during, and after the event is important to both types of attendees.  Content is still king; the demands for searchability and availability are a given.  And we are not just talking white papers either.  Videos and other interactive formats make a difference.

As experts who speak, we always want to know more about our audiences.  This report is a treasure trove of cool information.  Click here to get the report (sign in is required).

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Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy Convention Industry Council

- Mary McKay, turnkeyspeaker.com

You will be interested to know that the Economic Significance of Meetings to the U.S. Economy Convention Industry Council 2011 just reported last week that 205 million people attend 1.8 million meetings a year in the U.S.  And as Meetings & Conventions reported last year, planners say that motivational messages are among the most appropriate keynote categories: of the 116 meeting planners who responded, 69 % say that an uplifting speech is highly appropriate followed by the second highest category, industry related topics at 62%.  They also reported that while 15% of respondents do not pay their keynote speakers, 28% budget less than $5,000 and at the high end of the spectrum, 3% can pay more than $50,000 for a top name.

They also reported that word of mouth if the prevailing method of finding speakers.  There is only one way that you can become word of mouth.  And that is if someone hears you and recommends you.  So those free gigs you are doing right now can make a big difference.

______________

- Approaching prospects — Ron Katz

I have been doing a consulting gig on the other side of the desk for the past couple of months and amazed at how many bad pitches I have received from speakers, trainers, and other assorted presenters. Most of the worst ones are all about the wonderful things the presenter can do with little or no effort made to find out what the organization I am working with needs. In other words, it is all about them. Remember to do your homework, find out what your target might need, and then sell them on the benefit of hiring you. No one is going to hire you because it is good for you. One person actually had the nerve to tell me he had  work for less than his usual fee because he really needs the work right now. You will only get the work if the target organization can see how it will benefit them

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- Authors Who Visit Book Clubs

Bill Harrison  Reporter Connection  http://www.reporterconnection.com

GalleyCat has created a new way to connect book clubs with authors who want to visit them in-person, by phone or via Skype video. It’s called, quite simply, “Authors Who Visit Book Clubs.” The directory already has more than 300 authors and can be found here. Want to add your name? Go to GalleyCat’s Facebook page to sign up for free.

You’ll probably find the real payoff from such appearances won’t be in the number of books you sell, but rather the chance to connect with your fans and get valuable feedback. For instance, Jim Collins decided to write Good to Great, a business bestseller which has sold over 4 million copies, after dinner with a reader of his previous bestseller Built to Last.
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-  7 Things Marketers Should Delete From Their Facebook Strategy NOW from HubSpot Blog

What to Axe From Your Facebook Marketing Strategy

1. A Business “Profile,” Not a Page: First things first. Before you even think about anything else, know this: businesses have Pages, people have Profiles. If you haven’t already, create a Facebook Page for your business immediately. If you’ve already set up a Profile, Facebook enables you to convert it into a Page. Pages are specifically built for companies, brands, and organizations, and they provide all the right functionality (e.g. generating fans) for your business’ Facebook presence.

2. A Lengthy Page URL: So now you have a Page. What comes with it is this really long, unidentifiable, impossible-to-remember URL. Make it easy to communicate your Facebook presence to others by creating a vanity URL and username that’s easy to remember and share. For example, HubSpot’s Facebook Page URL is http://www.facebook.com/hubspot. (Note: Once your vanity URL is set, Facebook doesn’t let you change it, so make it count!) Read more

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- The Ultimate Google+ Cheat Sheet
hubspot.com

Google+ is growing like crazy. In fact, it is the fastest growing social network ever. Just as with any other social network, marketers have a lot to learn and do. So we thought we would invest some time into making your life easier. In this post, we’ve compiled the best content about Google+ from all across the web. Use it to learn how to leverage Google+ for both business and personal uses.

Google+ Vocabulary: Quick Reference Glossary

Stream:  the list of messages that is displayed on the Google+ home screen and for each Circle of contacts

Hangout:  a platform for group video chatting and collaboration that is used by Google+ members

Circle:  the method of organizing connections into groups for more targeted sharing and better privacy

Google Profile:  your personal home on Google+, which allows you to share interesting, work experiences, personal information, and much more

Sparks:  the magazine of Google+, which bring together information on a topic for easy viewing. Enter a keyword, and see public Google+ posts on that topic.
Read more:

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SEPTEMBER  TELELCLASSES
SPEAKERS COMMUNITY

Teleclasses FREE for Speakers Community Members. Join now and get  2 months complimentary
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September 15,  3 Steps to Success: Niche Marketing Strategies to Grow Your Speaking Business Profitably, Susan Friedman, CSP

In this dynamic and high-content session, you will learn a unique 3-Step Riches in Niches Success Formula to build your speaking business faster and with less frustration. This practical framework of powerful, proven, and simple-to-use success strategies, makes it easier for you to find and cash in the right niche market for your business.

Join Susan Friedmann, The NichePreneur Coach, to discover simple steps to success to grow your speaking business profitably.  Read more/register

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September 26, Websites that Sell for Experts, Authors, Speakers, Kriste Rimmele

Learn proven strategies to help you effortlessly attract customers, get more leads, and command higher fees.

Discover:

-  5 tips to help you skyrocket the profits on your website

-   How to build an effective speaker website that gets you booked

-   How to build a personal brand that makes you unforgettable.

Kristie Rimmele knows first-hand how to build massive publicity and sales online.  She is the found of Webmomz.com, a community for work at home moms, president of Branding on the Net, and author of several books including I Love My Life: A Moms Guide to Working from Home. Read more/register

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WORKSHOPS IN LA & ORANGE COUNTY

Monday, October 17, Talk Up Your Business, Master the Message, Master the Marketing Workshop, Los Angeles

Jack Barnard, Susan Levin, Ursula Mentjes, Jean-Noel Bassior

SPEAKERS, AUTHORS, EXPERTS, COACHES, CONSULTANTS

Gain Credibility, Boost Your Visibility & Get More Clients by Talking Up Your Business

If you are a would-be speaker, a business hotshot, an entrepreneur or a network marketer; if you have a product, service or about-to-be-realized dream; you absolutely need to be speaking about it, do seminars & workshops about  you need a kick-butt website, you need to blog about, to social network about, to get great publicity about — and you definitely need to know all the up-to-the-minute marketing tricks!

In short: to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media maven: a compelling presenter…a website wizard…a publicity hound…a master marketer.

GREAT, practical advice and training, energizing and inspirational presenters from whom I learned a great deal.  Strategies I know I’ll use over and over.  Thanks to Susan and Jack for a weekend that left me confident and prepared!
- Melinda Bates, Author, Clintonista, A White House Memoir

See the program and register

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Saturday, October 29,  Market Yourself as a Speaker, Susan Levin

Are you a seasoned expert with years of advice and experience to pass along? Whether you are an executive, educator or salesperson you could be missing out on an important source of your income: THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT.

The information, techniques and tools that you’ll receive from attending Market Yourself as a Speaker are essential to building your speaking business.

Market Yourself as a Speaker workshop is the dash track to making the changes necessary to reach your target market.
- Suzanne Takowsky, Beverly Hills Times Magazine

Learn more and register

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Monday, November 7,  Speak Your Way to More Clients, Capistrano Beach, Ursula Mentjes and Susan Levin

Speak Your Way to More Clients was packed with tricks of the speaking trade.  Following the examples provided during the workshop will be vital to making my next speaking engagement a great success!,  Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center

Establish yourself as an Expert through speaking  a powerful marketing tool that lifts your business or service to the next level. Begin now to build a profitable speaking business that gets your message out to the world!

- The Tools to Establish Yourself as the Expert in your Industry
- Generate List Building Systems to stay in front of your Prospects and Clients
- Proven Strategies to Land more Speaking Engagements
- Discover the Problem that you Solve for your Clients and the best way to Communicate it to the Decision Maker
- Create your Top 25 Target Client List and more
Read more/register

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Tweets of interest

- 10 Reasons Why an Online Speaker Kit Gets Meeting Planners to Book You! http://bit.ly/r5AU40 so what do you speak about?

- I luv my AudioAcrobat http://bit.ly/pDSQ6J do you use it? If not check it out. My favorite resource.

- Resources 4 speakers, experts & authors Blog: hundreds of posts http://speakerscommunity.com/blog & videos Utube Channel http://tinyurl.com/2e3dzjm Rock on!

- Get Booked on Radio Talk Shows http://bit.ly/p0oRIv Alex Carroll shows you how to Get Rich & Become Famous Being A Guest on Big Radio Shows

- Do you have an mp3 library? Favorite resource for speakers/authors. Hundreds of interviews, 60 days free. Join now http://www.speakerscommunity.com

- 17 Things Marketers Should Delete From Their Facebook Strategy NOW http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/23603/17-Things-Marketers-Should-Delete-From-Their-Facebook-Strategy-NOW.aspx via @HubSpot

-ASU LEARNING: University bringing more speakers to campus and community http://www.gosanangelo.com/news/2011/aug/29/asu-bringing-more-speakers-to-campus-and/

-The Ultimate Google+ Cheat Sheet http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/23765/The-Ultimate-Google-Cheat-Sheet.aspx via @HubSpot

- Interesting article about Groupon http://www.smallbusinessnewz.com/topnews/2011/08/29/daily-deals-groupon-down-livingsocial-up-facebook-out

August 2011 E-Zine

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services: http://www.speakerservices.com

In this issue:

- A note from Susan Levin

- News from our speakers and colleagues

- Teleclasses & Workshops

- Tweets and Blog Post of Interest

This past week I had the pleasure of teaching Speak Your Way to More Clients with my colleague Ursula Menjtes.  We also had the pleasure of coaching a client from Colorado for three days in person who you will be hearing about in a few months as soon as we complete his branding and speaker listing.  As a marketing consultant for speakers, authors and experts I am always talking about the need to have promotional marketing materials.  I am sure you have heard me say speaking is a business and it is essential to have well written materials. So if you are not getting the media attention you deserve or attracting new clients or not getting speaking gigs it could be your promo materials.

Speaker Services team can assist you with speaker proposals, one sheets, bio’s, interview questions, press releases and more.  I have posted the services on our blog along with a description of each item see http://bit.ly/qIRbHL We are offering complimentary intakes with a suggested plans of action.  E-mail me susan@speakerservices.com if you would like a session.  You may also be interested in reading 10 Reasons Why an Online Speaker Kit Gets Meeting Planners to Book You! http://bit.ly/nfNRqf

If you are in Los Angeles you could attend Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop on 8/13 where you will learn about professional promotional materials from me.  See details

Are you doing anything for fun this summer?  Jack Barnard, our master branding. media & presentation coach along with 15 folks are.  What exactly are they doing you ask?  They are in a 5 part Inspired Improvisation class learning how to get out of their head and into their bodies and to think on their feet.  Lots of belly laughter the first evening. The last evening 8/29 is a performance and you are invited to attend complimentary.  It is in Venice, CA.  E-mail me for the information and if you are interested in attending or for the next series.

As you may know we are going to Atlanta on Sept 30 and Oct 1 for Talk Up Your Business Workshop.  On August 11, I am offering a free teleclass preview with our speakers on Talk Up Your Business.  You can meet Daphne Bousquet, Rick Frishman, Jack Barnard & Susan Levin, register here

In Atlanta see workshop info http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbiz . Psst there is an early registration fee by 8/30 of $147.  We have had many requests from out West Coast peeps to offer a similar workshop in Los Angeles and I am working on it as I write and will be announcing the date soon.

Speak Your Way to More Business

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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Welcome to our new speaker for August 2011

Devin C. Hughes is a Coach, trainer and former athlete shows how to conquer the sense of alienation called “The Isolation Syndrome” and get your life back.
Bullying, Cultural Diversity, Learning Disorders, Motivational, Parenting and Children

See all speakers and authors

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Speakers’ Community Membership Club

Teleclasses are complimentary for members of the Speakers Community  join now 60 days free

Wednesday, August 24

Heartfelt Marketing: Allowing the Universe to Be Your Business Partner interview with Jacquie Jordan teleclass

Once again Jacquie Jordan does an excellent job of telling how it is. Anyone who is interested in the marketing field no longer has to experience sleepless nights, fear and anxiety. What you need is here in “Heartfelt Marketing”. Jacquie knows what she’s talking about.   Learn more and register.
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WORKSHOPS in LA & Atlanta

Friday & Saturday, September 30 and October 1

ATLANTA-  Talk Up Your Business, Master the Message, Master the Marketing

Speakers, Authors, Consultants, Coaches, Experts, Entrepreneurs, CEO’s

If you’re a would-be speaker, a business hotshot, an entrepreneur or a network marketer; if you have a product, service or about-to-be-realized dream; you absolutely need to be speaking about it, do seminars & workshops about… you need a kick-butt website, you need to blog about, to social network about, to get great publicity about — and you definitely need to know all the up-to-the-minute marketing tricks!

In short: to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media maven: a compelling presenter…a website wizard…a publicity hound…a master marketer.

See the program and register.  Early registration ends 8/30. $147 for 2 days.

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New workshop:  Monday, October 17 in Venice, CA

Charisma: Great Leaders Have It Workshop

For Executives, Coaches, Entrepreneurs, Speakers

Led  by Jack Barnard, Susan Levin and Tony Perez

Charisma: a strong personal quality that makes other people like you and be attracted to you.  Macmillan Dictionary

Charisma: a personal magic of leadership arousing special loyalty or enthusiasm. Merriam-Webster

Read more

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NEWS From OUR SPEAKERS & COLLEAGUES

See Jean-Noel Bassior’s video and write up in Day In The Life: Executive Chef at Westwood’s W Hotel – Westwood-Century City, http://t.co/XzdZcO9

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Story On Biking: the amazing story of Jothy Rosenberg http://t.co/ANRSk0p
Jothy is an author, speaker and extreme athlete, entrepreneur and two-time cancer survivor empowers others to say “I CAN” in the face of major challenges. He speaks about Disabilities, Empowerment, Entrepreneurship, Inspirational, Motivational, Success see his speaker listing http://bit.ly/nphM9F

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Speaker and author Helaine Harris shares:
I am thrilled to invite you to register for a FREE Teleseminar series specifically designed for folks who want more love and abundance in their lives. It’s called the Activate Amazing Prosperity with Heart Energy! You will hear from 13 experts, authors and speakers in activating your heart and power centers to attract amazing abundance. Do you feel like you’re doing something WRONG?  No matter how hard you try and or whatever new thing you do, you don’t have enough money?  That is all about to change http://www.hzharris.com/telesummit

Helaine is a leading-edge coach and therapist reveals deep connection between love and abundance, shows how to attract clients and customers who appreciate you, and how to access your inner wisdom to fulfill your life purpose.  See Helaine’s speaker listing http://bit.ly/p7KCtT

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Bill Harrison wrote, Simon & Schuster reports that, in its first week, Jaycee Dugards’s memoir, A Stolen Life, sold approximately 700,000 copies. On the very first day it was published, Jaycee’s book sold 175,000 copies – & almost 100,000 were e-books. That’s an e-book record. What are you doing to tap the e-reader market?

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Lessons, Tips, Laughs and Gasps from ‘Shedding the Corporate Bitch’ by Bernadette Boas

Bernadette Boas Author, Speaker, Radio Personality, Change Agent, Brand Maker – Shedding the Bitch, Raising Capital – ASK ME

Have you encountered a bully or nasty boss, or an aggressive team member in the office… even at home? Have you ever wondered what motivates them to be who they are? 

For twenty-five years, I was that corporate bully, and now am thrilled to announce that my first book, Shedding the Corporate Bitch, has just been published on August 1. 

It’s my apology to all of the road kill that I left behind, while it also educates those afflicted by those nasty people about what causes them to lash out and create a challenging work environment. 

Now available everywhere, my personal story provides insights into the successes, failures, lessons learned, influences, and overall impact that my professional persona (Corporate Bitch) had on my career. 

 

Available now at your local bookstore, Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com, and online at www.sheddingthecorporatebitch.com where you can also get a free autographed copy!!

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Who says complimentary speaking does not turn into paid gigs?

“I got a free gig from Speaker Services for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs, and after the presentation last week in Palm Springs, they contracted me to do four 50 min. tele-coaching sessions as a follow up. I didn’t have to submit a proposal or even negotiate—and I’m getting $2500! Also, they are interested in me for several other training/facilitating opportunities—woohoo!.” – Nan Vaughn, Speaker/ Author. See Nan’s Speaker listing

Want what Nan has? Our service has been connecting speakers, coaches, experts and authors together with audiences since 1992. http://www.speakerservices.com

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Pat Mussieux writes Any opportunity to speak is a gift, as far as I am concerned. It’s a chance to get your message out, to transform lives, to practice your presentation/skills, etc. – the critical piece is to ensure it is your ideal audience! And the critical piece is definitely ‘seeding’ throughout your presentation – and follow-up! Follow-up! Follow-up!

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Dr. Carole Lieberman weighs in on KTLA TV on Casey Anthony case http://t.co/W98oGHT .

Dr. Carole is the go-to guest for Oprah, Larry King, Katie Couric, Bill O’Reilly, The Today Show, Good Morning America, Entertainment Tonight, CNN, Fox News, BBC, and other major media outlets when they need expert insight into the top news stories of the day or how to deal with life’s ups and downs. See Carole’s speaker listing

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SEE WHAT OUR CLIENTS ARE SAYING ABOUT OUR SERVICES

Susan Levin is a great mentor with great experience to share 
and a great heart to match! – Melissa Evans, Guru of Implementation

Susan provides a toolbox of services and experts for the business person or author who wants to develop a revenue stream from speaking engagements. I used both her training and directory and more than doubled my speaking revenue in less than 90 days.”
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach, Speaker

I really appreciate Susan Levin, she is intelligent, practical & a very nice person & offers solid advice about the speaking industry. She has great information on her website and is very professional. She really has a passion for the speaking industry & is not just in business for the money. I do not hesitate to recommend her. – Tiffany Bradshaw, Bradshaw & Co. Business Consulting

Get a speaker listing with Speaker Services and connect with audiences who want to hear your message: Learn more.
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TWEETS AND BLOG POSTS YOU MAY BE INTERESTED IN:

- Learn marketing secrets & strategies that attract your ideal clients speakerservices.com/talkupyourbiz/ Atlanta 9/30 & 10/1 get your seat now

- Blog Discover how to secure your income for the rest of the year.The Top Item To Sell At Your Workshop @daphnebousquet http://t.co/lBAdvmA

- Check this video out — Susan Levin, What Meeting Planners are looking for in speakers http://t.co/YfDoEew Various formats for presenting.

- 15 Tips to Conquer Fear of Public Speaking: http://t.co/20D0Hx0 @dianediresta

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Follow us on

Twitter: http://twitter.com/speakerservices
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/susan.levin
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/susanlevin
Read the Blog http://speakerscommunity.com/blog
SpeakerServices Utube Channel http://tinyurl.com/2e3dzjm

post by Daphne Bousquet

Drumroll, please……..

After looking at the top 5 things to sell in the back of the room at your workshops and seminars, we have finally come to number 1.  Many entrepreneurs have used this particular piece to turn their seminar into an event that made high 5-figures, 6-figures, multiple 6-figures and even 7-figures.

This is what secures your income for the rest of the year and isn’t that a nice feeling?

Let’s review the Top 5:

#5 – Your Next Event

#4 – Continuity Programs

#3 – Professional Services

#2 – Information Products

#1 Coaching

Coaching is a highly personal service and not many people hire a coach that they are not really familiar with.  Content marketing and especially workshops and seminars are very effective tools to fill your coaching programs.

Your audience gets to see you in action and you get to display your skills and your knowledge.  The nice thing is that your potential clients get a real feel for who you are, your style of interacting with others and if they would enjoy working with you.

In the back of the room, there are 3 kinds of coaching packages that you can sell:

One-on-one coaching

As a coach, you obviously know what this is.  You take a person and help them achieve their goals in your area of expertise by collaborating with them and holding them accountable for their actions. Yes, that is not the official definition.

According to the International Coach Federation, coaching is “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential.”

What this means is that you can offer your attendees a 6-month long or year long coaching package that will help them achieve the goals they have set for themselves.

The disadvantage is that this is a time for dollars business model and you can only coach so many clients before you run out of time and hit the ceiling of your income potential.

Group Coaching

In this model you take a group of people on  a quest to achieve their dreams.  The nice thing about group coaching is that you can charge your clients less, but get paid more for your time.  It is all in the power of leveraging.

If you charge $250 per hour for one-on-one coaching that is all you get paid for that hour.  But if you have a group, you can charge 5 people (or more) $150 for per hour.  All of a sudden, you get paid $750 for that same hour.

By the way, this hourly rate is just an example.  I know you do not sell your coaching by the hour, but only in packages.  (And if you do sell coaching by the hour, STOP!)

Hybrid Coaching

The hybrid is the perfect package to sell in the back of the room.  You include a group component in your package, but also have some individual coaching in there as well.  You can design it any way that works best for you and your clients.  Your clients get the benefit of access to you, as well as a group dynamic that can turn it into a mastermind.

This works even better when your clients all come from the same event.  They already know each other and have gone through the same seminar and that creates an instant bond.

Of course selling coaching is only 1 way to make a profit from your workshops and seminars, albeit a powerful one.  To learn more about the other streams of revenue to tap, to make your event truly powerful and lucrative, check out the Event C.A.S.H. System.

Do you agree that coaching is the top item to sell in the back of the room?  What do you think of the list?  Do you think anything else should be in the top 5?

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services: http://www.speakerservices.com

In this issue:

- A note from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice

- Teleclasses & Workshops

- 5 Tips to Avoid Losing Your Shirt with Your Seminar

- How Sponsors Define Value

- How to Ensure a Powerful Introduction Before You Speak

- Tweets & Blog Post of Interest

Greetings,

Did you have a good holiday weekend?  My gang of friends met at Ellen Reid’s place to celebrate the holiday weekend.  She is my friend the Book Shepherd.   The photo is of me and Kiki Ellen’s dog.

Weekend before last Jean-Noel Bassior our editor for the past 25 years and I were vendors at the ICF LA’s Coaches Expo in Culver City.  I met many wanna be coaches and certified coaches that were very interested to know more about how Speaker Services could help them grow their various expertise. It was not a huge event but the quality of the people who stopped were extraordinary and the conversations were helpful and fruitful.

The Inspired Improv 5 week workshop in August filled up very quickly.  Jack Barnard is teaching it and the people who signed up are in for a treat. I will be there too as it is so much fun.  Do you speak gibberish?

At the end of July Ursula Mentjes and I are offering Speak Your way to More Clients Workshop for the second time in Capistrano Beach, CA.  Last time we sold out.  

We’ll be sharing how to discover the problem that you solve for your clients and the best ways to communicate it to the decision maker and how to create your “Top 25 Target Client List”and more.

“Susan and Ursula delivered awesome value!  The content was complete, thorough and fun.  They are both committed to providing the missing links for the clients they serve. I feel totally prepared to begin the new branch of my work—creating clients through speaking!” -Dorbe Holden, Transformational Coach

Check it out and register: http://tinyurl.com/3h2el9f

Not in LA?  No worries here are some options for you:

- Speaker Marketing Works Virtual Mastermind/Study Group now forming http://bit.ly/jXEUmT

- Budget Minded and enjoy listening to mp3’s?  Join the Speakers Community Membership Club. 60 days complimentary and a mere $19.95 a month plus 4 years of past interviews in the library ready for you to download.  I always say where can you learn from the experts for $10 an hour. I am looking forward to interviewing Dr. Stpehen Jones about the Fear of Speaking- Get Over it! Does the thought of speaking in front of a group evoke fear, make you sweat, start your heart pounding? It’s likely you have glossophobia – the fear of public speaking.

At the end of the month it is my honor to interview my long time speaker, author client Michael Hingson. Michael is the author of Thunder Dog: A Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero. God does not present insurmountable problems. Instead he gives us challenges, waits for us to overcome them, & then he rejoices . Join now.

- Workshops in LA, Orange County and Atlanta.  See all workshops

- One-on-One consulting on Speaker Marketing and or Presentation Branding Skills and Book Mentoring on the phone or in person in Los Angeles.  This month we are hosting a client from Colorado for a private three day training.  How can we assist you?  We customize for your needs and concerns.

Speak Your Way to More Business

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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TIPS & ADVICE

LinkedIn Group

Professional Keynote Speakers – by Jorge Olson

Discussion: How do you become a public speaker?

- Lenny Laskowski, http://www.LJLSeminars.com

Many people who start out in the speaking business need to remember that it “IS” a business and you need to learn and understand how the speaking business works. Like most business it does change and you need to find what works for you in terms of growing your business. For every business who swears by using “cold calls” as an approach you will find other’s who NEVER use cold calls.

Find yourself a mentor who is doing what you want to do and in the industry you want to work in and learn from them. Take marketing courses and seminars. Attend workshop and seminars on the speaking business and learn from others. At the same time, you need to find what works for you and what style of marketing works for your personal style.

Also, do not remember to keep good records and who you speak to and interface with so you can follow up.

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5 Tips to Avoid Losing Your Shirt with Your Seminar

Daphne Bousquet,  http://eventstrategysolutions.com

It happens to too many people. Grand plans, big vision. You plan, you project, you try to manifest and then you find yourself in a huge hole that you spend the rest of the year trying to get out of.

Yes, I am talking about events. Has it ever happened to you? You poured your heart and soul into planning a seminar and all you ended up with was an empty wallet and crushed dreams? And you wonder what happened?

You see other coaches and expert put on huge seminars and they are making a fortune. What could you have done differently? What do they know that you don’t?

It breaks my heart, because workshops and seminars are powerful tools that transform people’s lives, both attendees and seminar leaders. When done right, they are extremely lucrative and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that you can make more money in a single weekend than most people make in an entire year.

Our coaches tell us to think bigger, they show us what is possible. However, many times what works for them, may not work for you. So you dive into planning the workshops and seminars thinking big, all the while you are missing some critical steps that make the difference between success and utter disappointment.

What can you do to avoid that? Here are 5 tips to avoid losing your shirt and make your next seminar truly one that is transformational for you.

Start small

You may want a seminar for 100 people, but if this is your first one, start small. Keep it intimate and exclusive. It will give you a chance to test the waters, your marketing and your conversion rates. It also keeps your costs down, which is important for obvious reasons.

Focus on your ideal attendee

Who is he/she? Talk to that person and that person alone in your marketing. If your seminar tries to be too many things to too many people, it will not be anything to anybody. Your marketing becomes too broad and ambiguous and no one responds to vague and generic. Be precise. What benefits does your seminar offer and who is it perfect for?

Book your venue as late as possible

I know I am going to get in trouble with my former colleagues in the hospitality industry, but the fact is this. Most seminar leaders who have lost money on their event ended up paying thousands of dollars to hotels for rooms and services they never used. Start marketing and selling tickets before you sign your contract. Once you sign it, you are committed, whether people show or not.

Allow plenty of time for marketing

Start promoting now. Yes now. The more time you have to market your seminar the better. Most seminar leaders fail because they didn’t allow themselves enough time for their marketing campaign. For a multi day event, you will need 6 months. Minimum. Preferably 8 months. That gives you time to add value, build your list, line up promotional partners and create a campaign that gets the butts in the seats.

Have a back end plan

Your seminar should not just depend on tickets sales. You should have a comprehensive plan for generating revenue with your seminar. That means multiple streams of seminar income. Know what you are offering and when. Don’t rely on only 1 or 2 ways to make money from your seminar. There are at least 10, so use them to your advantage.

Daphne will be a featured speaker at Talk Up Your Business, Master the Message, Master the Marketing, Atlanta Sept 30 & Oct 1.  See http://t.co/cu0bNfE

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How Sponsors Define Value

- Vickie Sullivan, http://www.sullivanspeaker.com

Many experts who speak are looking for sponsors to pay their hefty speaking fee.  And sponsors are still doing that buy asking host organizations “how can you provide more value?” first.  Here are a couple of ideas inspired by veteran sports professionals in their sponsorship deals:

Community outreach.  Every sponsor wants more exposure than the event.  How about finding out who their target market is and participating in that?  For example, if your banking sponsor wants to reach out to business owners, why can’t you do an extra session for that audience?

Product placement.  TV shows and movies have taken this to a whole new level with more subtle references.  Can speakers do the same with examples and stories that feature the sponsor?  Let’s go one step further:  in the name of interactive learning, is there any way to demonstrate the sponsor’s product or service?  Use them as a case study perhaps?

Business-building opportunities.  These sponsors are partnering to expand their reach.  Does your community have value to them too?  How could you facilitate introductions between the sponsors and your business contacts?  A reception maybe?

Suggestions that go above and beyond might be refused by the host organization but your offer will not be forgotten.  Great way to position yourself as a partner rather than just a speaker for the convention.

Vickie Sullivan is recognized as the top market strategist for experts who want strong brands with high-fee buyers. She speaks and consults internationally about selection trends in high-fee markets and strategies that position experts for those venues. Vickie’s articles have been published in national publications ranging from USA Today Magazine to Handbook of Business Strategy. This update is sent to thousands of experts throughout the U.S. and 17 other countries.

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How to Ensure a Powerful Introduction Before You Speak

Post by Lisa Sasevich, www.theinvisibleclose.com

There are two types of introductions—the one where you introduce yourself toward the beginning of your talk and the one that your host reads to introduce you to the audience before you get up on stage. Now, that second introduction may seem like a minor concern, but it’s not; it plays a huge role in establishing your credibility.

Building credibility—the impression that you are an expert with proven results who can be trusted to deliver—is the vital first goal of your presentation. If you want your audience to listen to you and eventually buy from you, they have to see you as credible.

So here is my secret formula and two important tips for creating a powerful introduction for your host. An introduction that sets you up to gain credibility and helps people feel open to you and quickly start to build the trust that is needed to invest with you.

Proven Formula for Getting a Powerful Intro Before You Speak When you’re writing your host’s introduction, keep it short: only 30 seconds to one minute long. Hit the high points and include these elements:

A. Have the host tell the audience why they invited you. For example, your introduction might begin: “We know that you or people you know have been affected by the drastic changes in the housing market. We invited our next speaker here today because her program has been proven to work during challenging times.” This is also where they would include any personal testimonial they have to add if they, in fact, have worked with you.  read on http://bit.ly/kjonkI

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WORKSHOPS IN LA, ORANGE COUNTY, SAN DIEGO & ATLANTA

See all workshops

July 29, Speak Your Way to More Clients, Ursula Mentjes & Susan Levin, Capistrano Beach

“Are you tired of figuring out where to find new clients? It’s time for them to find you!”

Ursula Mentjes (Sales Expert) and Susan Levin (Industry Expert) have teamed up to teach you how to grow your business through speaking!

“Speak Your Way to More Clients was packed with “tricks of the speaking trade”!  Following the examples provided during the workshop will be vital to making my next speaking engagement a great success!”, Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center

“This is the perfect blueprint for pursuing a successful speaking career!  Getting the actual “HOW” was absolutely priceless!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!” – Janise Graham, Janise Graham Insurance and Financial Services

Learn more

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August, 13 – Market Yourself as a Speaker led by Susan Levin, Marina del Rey

Nuts and bolts of lecture circuit.

Are you a seasoned expert with years of advice and experience to pass along? Whether you are an executive, educator or salesperson you could be missing out on an important source of your income: THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT.  Learn more/register

“Susan has given me a great deal of personal advice which has helped me go forward in my career as a speaker and consultent. I am honored to know Susan and to have the opportunity to work with her.” - Michael Hingson, Speaker & Author

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Tweets & Blog Posts of interest:

- Speakers, Authors, Experts R yr marketing materials professional? R u getting noticed? No? Might be the writing! http://bit.ly/pUNiLa

- Social Media Use Nearly Doubles as Audiences Grow Older : MarketingProfs Article http://t.co/pihtYzt via @marketingprofs

- Seven Ways to Name the Decision Makers http://t.co/Lfrj3Kb via @wendyweiss

- 7 Steps to Increase Facebook Fans http://t.co/E3BoCJY via @pc4media

- If God Is Your Co-Pilot, Switch Seats http://huff.to/mrhQPD via @huffingtonpost by BJ Gallagher

- Excellent post How to Create a Value Proposition Positioning Statement with Your Value Proposition – RAIN Group http://t.co/FqhutRB

- 10 Easy Ways To Prepare A Powerful Introduction http://t.co/XXrVEZJ

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services: http://www.speakerservices.com

Greetings,

Today we are trying out a new e mail format.  Let me know if you like it.

There are a few items I want to share with you today that you may not be aware of that we offer.

I have been noticing that some folks come to workshops, buy home study courses and do not implement the information.  I know many of us including myself are in overwhelm  and probably could use some hand holding. So I decided to form a virtual group:  Marketing Works MasterMind Study Group.  It will meet once a month on the telephone for 90 minutes with a six month commitment. Each month I will be teaching a new element re speaker marketing and during that month you will digest the content and get the work done until we meet again.

I find that many folks sorta know what they need to do but sorta don’t get around to implementing.  This group is designed for just for that.  I will start the group once we have 10 people enrolled. It is a small monthly investment. Read more

Here is my second offer: Our team can put together your promotional materials ie: one-sheets, bios, speaker listing, interview questions, press releases.  I asked this question in my linkedin groups a few days ago, Not getting the speaking gigs? Do you have professional marketing materials?  Wow that stirred up a lot on interest and some controversy.  I took a look at what some speakers and authors thought were good marketing materials and sad to say they would never get booked for speaking nor media with what they had or didn’t have.

E-mail me susan@speakerservices.com for an appointment to discuss your needs and for us to recommend and customize the perfect package for you.  You do not have to be listed as a speaker in our directory to take advantage of this stellar service.  We  make you look professional so that you can get the gigs and media interviews.  See an example of a two sided one sheet that we created for our speaker and author Melissa Evans, The Guru of Implementation. Melissa Evans one sheet

In Los Angeles we are looking for 9 people to be part of an Inspired Improvisation Group for Speakers and Authors led by our master branding. media and presentation coach Jack Barnard. It is all about presence.  Jack shares,

“In my coaching I work from a model I call the Communion Trio: 1) Content 2) Connection and 3) Comfort. All three are equally important. You can have your topic nailed, memorized word-for-word, but if you are not present, in the moment, comfortable in your body, free in your emotions, somehow or other we know it, and the results of your presentation are greatly diminished.”

E-mail jackp.barnard@verizon.net if you want to play for 5 weeks in August with us.

Okay onto more stuff…

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com
310-822-4922 PT

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TIPS & ADVICE

I asked this question to some of my LinkedIn groups. Interesting responses. Are you passionate about what you speak about?

Speak Your Passion video http://t.co/QblXAld

Richard Kent Matthews – JFK once said that the only reason to give a speech is to change the world. Without passion, that isn’t possible. If you’re not convinced about what you speak of, how will anyone else be convinced.

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Steve Jobs:  Love what you do. Marketo Blog Secrets of Lead Generation Superstars

The founder and CEO of Apple Inc., Jobs believes that entrepreneurs must have a passion for what they’re doing. If you don’t love it, he reasons, you’re not likely to have the drive to successfully manage lead generation initiatives. You’re also more likely to eventually give up altogether. Loving what you do, he says, can make all the difference in the world.  Read more. http://bit.ly/iNt1VN

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Reporters Connection – For media leads

Not already a member? Join now to get our free media leads http://www.ReporterConnection.com/JoinNowFree/

A sample of what you will receive on a daily basis.

Business & Finance

1.  Looking To Interview Entrepreneurs Who Have Experienced Spectacular Failures In Business (HireYourVirtualAssistant.com/Blog)

2.  How Did You Successfully Outsource Your B2B Sales Leads Generation? (HireYourVirtualAssistant.com/Blog)

Food & Cooking

4.  Heart & Soul Food (Kardea Kitchen Online/Book)

5.  Have Any Great Summer Family Entrée Ideas? (Various Blogs)

Health, Nutrition & Fitness

6.  Seeking Personal Injury Attorney In New York City Area For Cable TV Show Interview (Local Access Cable Television)

Psychology & Self-Improvement

7.  Fallen Ministers (Civitas Press)

8.  Seeking Stories About Overcoming Adversity (KXRB Radio)

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Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound shares Google’s +1 Button

1. Install Google’s +1 Button

When Google, the King of Search, gives Publicity Hounds an easy way to let our websites and blogs stand out, we need to embrace it with all four paws.

The newest tool is the +1 button, shorthand for “this is pretty cool” or “you should check this out.”

It’s already popping up on websites and blogs, including  my blog.

Here’s how it works:

When you install the code that makes the button visible on your own site, people who like your content can click on it and tell Google and others that they’re recommending it. It’s Google’s equivalent of Facebook’s Like button.

But here’s the really powerful part. When you recommend somebody else’s content, your photo shows up when that person’s website is listed in Google’s search results. Your photo will show up only if you already have a Google Profile.

Do these four things today:

–If you don’t have a Google Profile, create one.

–Install the button at your website and blog. Or save yourself the headache and have your webmaster do it for you.

–Start recommending content you see elsewhere by clicking on the +1 button.

Reprinted from “The Publicity Hound’s Tips of the Week,” an ezine featuring tips, tricks and tools for generating free publicity. Subscribe at http://www.publicityhound.com/ and receive by email the handy cheat sheet “89 Reasons to Send a Press Release.”

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WORKSHOPS IN LA, ORANGE COUNTY, SAN DIEGO & ATLANTA

See all workshops

July 29, Speak Your Way to More Clients, Ursula Mentjes & Susan Levin, Capistrano Beach

“Are you tired of figuring out where to find new clients? It’s time for them to find you!”

Ursula Mentjes (Sales Expert) and Susan Levin (Industry Expert) have teamed up to teach you how to grow your business through speaking!

“Speak Your Way to More Clients was packed with “tricks of the speaking trade”!  Following the examples provided during the workshop will be vital to making my next speaking engagement a great success!”, Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center

“This is the perfect blueprint for pursuing a successful speaking career!  Getting the actual “HOW” was absolutely priceless!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!” -Janise Graham, Janise Graham Insurance and Financial Services

Learn more

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August, 13 – Market Yourself as a Speaker

led by Susan Levin, Marina del Rey

Nuts and bolts of lecture circuit.

Are you a seasoned expert with years of advice and experience to pass along? Whether you are an executive, educator or salesperson you could be missing out on an important source of your income: THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT.  Learn more/register

“Susan has given me a great deal of personal advice which has helped me go forward in my career as a speaker and consultent. I am honored to know Susan and to have the opportunity to work with her.” - Michael Hingson, Speaker & Author

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TELECLASS

Teleclasses are complimentary if you are a member of the Speakers Community Membership Club.  Join now. 60 days complimentary. Your audio/mp3 library of expert interviews twice a month.

see all teleclasses

7/29 Teleclass: It Takes More Then Talent- Marketing Your Speaking Services Interview with David Rohlander http://bit.ly/j2EIf4

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Tweets & Blog Posts of interest:

- Secrets of Lead Generation Superstars – http://t.co/vlU1EU4

- 5 Foolproof Ways to Generate Leads From Facebook http://t.co/jpoDhbc via @HubSpot

- Heartfelt Marketing: Allowing the Universe to Be Your Business Partner a must read book Jacquie Jordan cover photo by Starla Fortunato

- 10 Social Media Tips for Professional Speakers | Market Yourself as a Speaker: http://t.co/gHMX8kF Tip Search Engine Optimize Your Blog

- New blog post 75 Tips for Using Video in Business: Carol Roth’s Blog Read full  http://bit.ly/lXgokq

- Experts Do u have yr marketing presentation materials ready? We make u look professional Speaker Services team can help http://t.co/jMqTUtd

- Leverage yr expertise 4 more business. Create a magnetic presence. Talk Up Your Biz Atlanta check it out http://t.co/cu0bNfE

- Blog Leave Voicemail Messages That Have Prospects Begging To Meet You http://t.co/pPkVFcB 5 strategies 2 increase your enticement quotient.

- Visit Speaker Services online store. Improve your skill set learn from the experts

You do know Speaking is a business and you know you need to know the nuts and bolts of marketing yourself as a speaker?

Here’s an opportunity for you to get the marketing blueprint and the overview of the industry in a step by step process over a six month period in a virtual group setting that will catapult your speaker marketing business at a most affordable investment and keep you accountable.

I find that many folks sorta know what they need to do but sorta don’t get around to implementing.  This group is designed for just for that.

Perhaps you have some of the marketing materials but not all or you need a make-over or a review or you are simply starting from the beginning.  That’s fine.

What you do know I hope is that you are an expert in your field and you have tons of content to share however you don’t have a marketing plan in place to monetize your business.

Okay here is the information for the group which is forming right now.

Marketing Works Mastermind/Study Virtual Group – Level 1
facilitated by Susan Levin

Begins August 4, 2011, noon to 1:30pm PT or 3pm-4:30 ET

6 month program includes:

Mastermind/Study Group

6 – 90 minute sessions once a month with Susan Levin

Meets first Thursday of the month beginning on July 7 2011 on the telephone at noon PT – 3pm ET

- 6 Months in the SPEAKERS’ COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP CLUB audio/mp3 library- 2 expert interviews a month plus 4 years of mp3’s in the audio/mp3 library

Bonuses:
5 mp3′s and 4 PDF’s

- MP3-The Business of Speaking, Susan Levin
- PDF

- The Business of Speaking 16 page Special Report

- MP3- Connect, Get Hired by Meeting Planners, Kare Anderson

- MP3  Creating One-Sheets, Karen Saunders

- PDF  All About One Sheets – 24 page report

- PDF  Powerful Verbs That Add Persuasion to Your Writing

- MP3  Online Video Marketing Strategies,  Susan Levin and Reno Lovison

- PDF  Social Media Marketing Report

– 33 page report
- MP3 Self Publish or Main Stream Publish?  Jean-Noel Bassior

and more

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Mastermind/Study Group Sessions:

1  What will you speak about-what are you passionate about, what’s your niche, lead generation
2  What planners look for – various elements for your web or blog sites
3  One Sheets gathering all the materials
4   Your introduction
5   About Social Media & Speaking
6   Info Products

Total Value of this six month program is $2,000

Your investment $697

Pay in full
____   1 payment $697
____   3 monthly recurring payments $234
____   6  monthly recurring payments of $116

To register for a workshop or for more information: http://bit.ly/jXEUmT

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View a few videos with Susan speaking about Speaker Marketing

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Susan Levin is a great mentor with great experience to share and a great heart to match!
- Melissa Evans, Speaker/Author
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Susan is the reason that I have a career! I have been honored to mentor with her through Speaker Services. She has provided me with the best training anyone could get. I value her friendship and expertise.
- January Jones, Speaker/Author

Got questions?  Call me 310-822-4922 PT

Speaker Services is coming to Atlanta,

September 30 and October 1, 2011

Calling all Speakers, Authors, Consultants, Coaches, Experts, Entrepreneurs, CEO’s

See a short video that  panelist Keith Ivey prepared and why he thinks you just might want to be at this event. http://youtu.be/8mrewimiuvk

If you’re a would-be speaker, a business hotshot, an entrepreneur or a network marketer; if you have a product, service or about-to-be-realized dream; you absolutely need to be speaking about it, do seminars & workshops about… you need a kick-butt website, you need to blog about, to social network about, to get great publicity about — and you definitely need to know all the up-to-the-minute marketing tricks!

In short: to truly make a lasting impact, you need to be a media maven: a compelling presenter…a website wizard…a publicity hound…a master marketer.

Speakers: Rick Frishman, Jack Barnard, Susan Levin, Daphne Bousquet and guest panelists.

DISCOVER the niche that suits your passion and skills — and what’s uniquely marketable about your mission

• PRODUCE presentations that captivate and attract attention…motivate Action and get Results

• LEVERAGE the profitable difference between branding and Command-Branding

• EXPLORE the top ways to make money by speaking

• LEARN marketing secrets and strategies that attract your ideal clients

• DISCOVER how to put butts in seats

Take advantage of the early bird rate. $147 after 8/30 $197

Check out vendor and sponsorship possibilites

Susan Levin and Jack Barnard are the Holy Grail for speakers, whether they are just beginning or already making good money. Great training in everything you need to know: putting your presentation together, writing a book, getting speaking leads and especially how to market yourself in the most current ways, including video and social media.
- Barbara Niven, Actress, Media Coach, Speaker
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The Summit brought together all the resources that a speaker needs to represent themselves and their products. The value was truly in the speakers and the quality of their information.
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach, Nadisa Associates

Go to the website:

http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbiz

I wrote the following note to my e mail followers today and thought it might be of interest to those of you who are not on our e-list.  Appreciate your comments.

Today I want to have a conversation with you about an epidemic that is sweeping through our industry.

So my phone rings last week and a potential client says, OMG I loved your presentation and you are the real deal and I really want to work with you to develop my speaker marketing however, I bought two or three systems at a conference and I do not have a budget to work with you.  Not only that I am having buyer’s remorse.  What was I thinking?

Or I just spent $10,000 to produce a workshop and no one showed up.  I wish I knew about you before I lost my shirt.

This breeds mistrust for my colleagues who are heart centered and it hurts my heart to hear potential clients share that they are fearful and untrusting to work with Speaker Services because they have been ripped off.

So what is one to do?  For me it is about continuing to build relationships and knowing that the right people will find me.  Or as Seth Godin says you find your tribe or they will find you.

For those of you who can relate I believe it comes down to focusing on what is the greatest value for you to get to where you want to be.  So before you get into a buying frenzy have a conversation with yourself to see if you really need that service or system.  Stay focused on your marketing plan and choose mentors and coaches who can get you to the next level.  Also ask for referrals of clients who they have worked with and call them and see how and if they have implemented the teachings.

As a marketing coach for speakers, authors, coaches and entrepreneurs for the past 19 years I always share in my workshops and private coaching that I will give you the overview — the blueprint — however, I do not expect that you will have all your ducks lined up in a row overnight as it is an ongoing process.  And I will guide you through the process but you do need to do the work.

if you are serious about building your presentation and marketing skills and just want to talk to a “real” person(s) Jack Barnard and I are offering complimentary 20 minute sessions to help you get on track. If you fill out the ASSESSMENT FORM  http://www.speakerservices.com/assessment_form.html and send it back to me we will set up a telephone conversation with you.

And to go one step further Jack and I will get on the telephone with ya all on Monday, April 25 and answer your questions and allay your concerns. Sign up at http://t.co/tb59KvH

What do you think about all of this?

One of the biggest questions I get asked is:  How do I find paid speaking engagements?

SPEAKING IS A BUSINESS and there are many moving parts to the business and there is no short answer to the question.

If you are committed and passionate about your area of expertise and want to earn money as a speaker I will teach you.

Teleclass Series, 4 Thursdays, April 14, 21, 28, May 5, 2011 or One day Workshop in Los Angeles, Saturday, April 16, 2011 I am passionate about sharing my knowledge. My hourly rate is $250 an hour and I am offering you the information for only $197.

Okay here’s the information see for yourself if it resonates with you.

Getting speaking gigs can be a mysterious and frustrating process, particularly if you don’t have much experience. Decision-makers today are busier than ever and difficult to find. Gatekeepers screen calls, spam filters trap emails and voice mail blocks access.

Here is what I will be covering how to:

- Identify your target market

- Discover the problem that you solve for your clients and the best way to communicate it to the decision maker

There’s no point in being a fine marketer until you have expertise to offer. And your expertise has gotta be in a specific niche. A niche where folks with cash in their jeans recognize your value and are willing to invest in what you alone know. Here’s how to select your niche: identify the topic or issue in which you’re willing to do endless and ongoing research for a market with the means to pay you. – Burt Dubin

- Prepare a speaker/author presentation package which includes a one sheet overview that shares the benefits of hiring you and gets you booked

- Design an effective speaker website that gives a meeting planner everything they need to decide that you are the perfect speaker for their event

- Understand how decision makers decide who gets onstage

- Tips and strategies to show you how to attract and reach prospects

- Develop a voice mail message that gets your call returned

- Generate questions that will sustain the interest of the decision maker and move them to action to hire you - , organizations colleges and meetings and key contact people that work with your specific area of expertise.

- Learn to respond an effective response for a call for speaking proposals

- Top ways to make money public speaking

- Set fees and write contracts

- Explore directories that are published with lists of all the paying markets within a niche

-  Implement social media marketing concepts and establish relationships that boosts your visibility

- Understand how publicity and media can lead to speaking engagements Critical Elements of producing a speakers’ video demo

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REGISTER FOR 4 PART TELECLASS SERIES beginning 4/14-5/5 http://t.co/e2Zjti6

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REGISTER FOR 1 DAY WORKSHOP IN LA 4/16

http://t.co/e2Zjti6 _

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ABOUT SUSAN LEVIN Susan Levin is the owner of Speaker Services. Her company markets, trains and connects professionals with audiences through the online directory www.speakerservices.com. She is a speaker, workshop leader and a marketing strategist.  Her expertise includes: speaker marketing materials, lead generation, building and boosting an online and social media presence, creating speaker products and creating multiple streams of income.

Susan has worked with hundreds of business folks, entrepreneurs, experts, speakers, authors and coaches since 1992. Her advice and marketing strategies are guaranteed to dramatically increase your income and success in speaking and marketing.

What Clients are Saying:

Susan Levin is an expert in the field of Speaking and Training and has truly helped me launch my speaking career. In addition, she has connected me with phenomenal speaking opportunities and wants to see all of her clients and business associates succeed. I highly recommend Susan and her company,  Speaker Services!                                                                                                                        – Ursula Mentjes,  Author, Speaker

Susan Levin is the Holy Grail for speakers, whether they are just beginning or already making good money. She offers training in everything you need to know: putting your presentation together, writing a book, getting speaking leads and especially how to market yourself in the most current ways, including video and social media. She’s made a huge difference in my speaking career and in the fees I make from speaking, and I can’t recommend her highly enough. – Barbara Niven , Actress, Speaker and Presentation Coach

See short video marketing tip on how PR can land you speaking engagements

By C.J. Hayden, Contributing Editor, Rain Today

You’d be surprised how often my clients and students ask me to help them find a surefire sales letter or phone script that they can copy to use for their own sales efforts. Or maybe you wouldn’t. Perhaps you, too, have been misled into thinking that there is such a thing.

It’s tempting to believe that there really is a magic sequence of words that will make people buy from you every time. If something like that did exist, it would make selling so easy. You could just call someone up and read your script, or even better, just send the person an email, and presto—you’d have a new client.

But persuading other human beings to do what you want them to is not that simple. Think of the last time you tried to persuade your spouse or teenager to do things your way and you’ll see what I mean.

No, the real problem with trying to sell like a robot is that you aren’t selling to robots; you’re selling to people. It can be easy to forget that important fact when you are staring at a list of phone numbers and addresses that says “prospects” at the top.

Selling can be a confronting process. You may unconsciously be trying to protect yourself from rejection by dehumanizing the people you sell to. So you try to stay detached and “smile and dial” with script in hand, or you churn out another form letter.

But what you ought to be doing is exactly the opposite. Your prospects are people, just like you, me, and your best friend. Instead of hiding behind some anonymous words, you need to treat your prospects like they’re human beings and reveal yourself as human, too.

We human beings are unique individuals. What persuades Mary to buy is not what will persuade Sam. What works for Bob as a salesperson is not what will work best for Jane. So, instead of putting your prospects in a box and taking your selling from a can, consider instead key elements that might help two unlike people come to a mutual agreement. For example:

Affinity—If you just met your prospects five minutes ago or have never spoken with them live, they won’t feel much of a connection to you. There is no guaranteed formula for immediate rapport; you can’t make someone instantly like you. You must get to know prospects better over time, or you must be introduced to them by someone else who has already done so. Focus on building a relationship before trying to close the sale.

Mutual Respect—You need to demonstrate respect for your prospects’ time and opinions; they need to appreciate your knowledge and expertise. Reading a phone script to busy prospects you just interrupted is not very respectful. Sending a boilerplate letter asking for their business will not build trust in your capabilities. Ask them what they need, and demonstrate what you can do. An obvious match between their needs and your capabilities will be more persuasive than any sales copy could be.

Shared Goals—If your goal is to make money from selling your prospects something, and their goal is to solve a problem for themselves or their organization, you don’t have much in common. Your focus should be on helping your prospects find the right solution, whatever it is. When your service is the best solution for their problem, you’ll have a sale. If it isn’t, you’re wasting your time and theirs trying to get them to buy.

To introduce these elements into your selling, start treating your prospects more like people. Instead of relying on the anonymous delivery of killer copy, focus on personal exchanges of useful and targeted information. Take the time to get to know them better before you presume to tell them what they need. Share ideas, advice, and examples that demonstrate how you can be of service. Respect their time, opinions, and ability to choose what’s best for their own situation.

Successful selling is not a power struggle between two opposing sides; it’s a friendly conversation between peers. The next time you begin to call or write your prospects, visualize the unique human beings on the other end. Who are they? What’s going on in their world? What do they need most from you today? The answers to those questions will tell you much more about how to communicate with them effectively than any script or letter you can get off the shelf.

C.J. Hayden the author of Get Clients Now!  Thousands of business owners and salespeople have used her simple sales and marketing system to double or triple their income. Get a free copy of Five Secrets to Finding All the Clients You’ll Ever Need at Get Clients Now http://www.getclientsnow.com . You can reach C.J. by email at: info@getclientsnow.com

Speaker Services offering for workshops in Los Angeles

Click on the links to read more and to register.

Saturday, October 16, 1-5pm

Should You Self-Publish or Go Mainstream in a Changing Publishing World? Jean-Noel Bassior, $125

Explore the pros and cons of the many ways to get published.
Publishing is changing as we speak… 

You can write an e-book today and post it for free on the Web tonight. Publicity? Just make a video on your webcam, dispatch it to YouTube, and use social networks, blogs and website promotion to let readers in cyberspace know that your book has arrived. 

So is mainstream publishing still an option for writers? Sure, if you’ve got a mainstream idea. If you’re writing about a popular topic and you envision your book in Barnes & Noble, then you may want to query literary agents and/or editors and learn how to play the publishing game. http://tinyurl.com/3694ojt

Saturday, October 23, 10am-5pm

The Presence in Presentation…Inspired Improvisation for Speakers and Seekers. Jack Barnard, $155

There are two parts to the speaking universe, what we will call: a) The Ticket & b) The Game. The Ticket is anything and everything that it takes to get you the speaker in front of your eager audience. Which includes:
• Speech Structure
• Command-Branding
• Media Training
• Promotional Material
• Marketing Strategy
These are the things I teach…and the bottom line of the Ticket is that it’s all a matter of time — taking as much time as necessary to get your ducks all in a row. http://tinyurl.com/2bfb6nq

Saturday,  October 30, 11am-6pm

Web Video & Marketing Workshop, Barbara Niven, $99

In this interactive workshop we will show you how to create and market dynamic videos for your website, social media, video tips, video blogs, You Tube, info products, video email and more.

Video is one of the top forms of viral marketing on the web, and viral marketing is one of the most effective forms of marketing. There’s no reason why your business can’t capitalize on this.

Video gives instant credibility and a personal connection to your audience and target market. It brands you as the authority and celebrity expert in your niche.  Barbara and Susan will  share their many years of acting and marketing secrets and coach you to look and sound great even if you never have done this before.

Even if you don’t know what to say, Barbara will help you get your message and sound bites clear, which will also media train you for radio & TV interviews.  http://tinyurl.com/yd22zay

Saturday, November 6, 10am-2pm

Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop, Susan Levin, $125

Are you a seasoned expert with years of advice and experience to pass along? Whether you are an executive, educator or salesperson you could be missing out on an important source of your income: THE SPEAKING CIRCUIT.
The information, techniques and tools that you’ll receive from attending Market Yourself as a Speaker are essential to building your speaking business.
http://tinyurl.com/25572zn

Saturday, November 13, 10am-5pm

Storytelling…Every Great Speaker is a Great Storyteller. Period! Jack Barnard, $155

We live in a storytelling culture. Our movies are two-hour stories, our sitcoms twenty-two minute stories, our songs three-minute stories, our commercials one-minute and thirty-second stories. We the people are so used to absorbing through stories that when we don’t get them, the medicine doesn’t go down as sweetly.

All the great teachers — Jesus included — were great storytellers. Storytelling is an art. As a speaker you can tell us the point you are trying to make and we may understand it, but we get meaning through stories.
http://tinyurl.com/2aeh4zt

Saturday, December 4, 10am-5pm. Small Talk…The Elevator Speech, Networking, Media Interviews… the language your audience already speaks. Jack Barnard, $155

Some of what will be covered:
• The secret of the short presentation
• How to create dynamite sound-bites
• The power of brevity
• The default approach to absolutely every media — and audience — question
• How to block questions you don’t want to answer and bridge over to what you do want to share
• The Tricky Trio — the critical three questions that you need a dozen answers for

Small Talk focuses on getting juicy and succinct about your approach, so on one hand it’s a media training and on the other it’s an exciting journey into the heart of your message. http://tinyurl.com/33ebee3

Post by Penny Sansevieri, Author Marketing Experts, Inc

1. Don’t overwhelm your audience with too much stuff. When I first started speaking several years ago, I would show up with 60 pages of notes. One of the people in the audience said to me, “You’re not planning on covering all of that, are you?” Indeed. As time progressed I realized that my audience would get more with less. While I encourage you to fill your presentation with great information, save the overstuffing for your Thanksgiving turkey and keep your presentation flowing with enough information to sustain, but not so much as to overwhelm. How much is too much? Well, you might have to experiment with this a bit before you get it just right. Try practicing your presentation at home in front of some people who can give you objective feedback, this will really help you polish your program before you go out to the “real” audience. Keep in mind that when you rehearse, your presentation is bound to be shorter; things like questions and audience interaction will also lengthen your speaking time.

2. Look ‘em in the eye: You should always try to make eye contact with your audience; in fact, I recommend that you make and keep eye contact for at least five seconds with select individuals. This will help to engage the listener. Don’t look over their heads at the back wall or your product table, keep your eyes focused on the people who came to hear you speak.

3. Move around, don’t hide behind the podium: It’s easy to seek shelter behind a speaker podium, especially when you’re nervous, but the podium is a subconscious “block” between you and your audience. Try to move as far away from it as you can.

4. Gestures and facial expressions are good: Vary your gestures and facial expressions. An animated speaker is far more engaging than one who has perfected the Poker-face look. This is especially true if you want to keep your presentation light or if you’re presenting humorous material. Also, *smile* – it’s amazing how a warm and welcoming smile can really engage your audience.

5. Attire: when in doubt, get dressed up. If you’re not sure of the attire, I always recommend dressing up. If need be you can always remove your jacket and/or tie, but it’s hard to recover when you show up in your casual clothes and find everyone else is in a suit.

6. Leave the monotone voice at home: Vary your voice, don’t keep to one speed. Vary the speed and rhythm, it’s almost like riding a roller coaster. One minute you’re fast, then slow, then climbing. Keep it varied and you’ll keep your audience’s attention. As for using “um” and “eh” well, you know that’s a no-no, no sense in taking up space here to remind you that you should avoid those place fillers at all costs. If you need some practice getting those out of your vernacular, try attending a Toastmasters group in your local area.

7. Using PowerPoint? Go easy on the text: if you use too much text on your PowerPoint you’ll find that people are reading the text on the slides instead of listening to you. A good balance is a few words to highlight your key points, just enough to get their attention – but not so much that they’re forced to read what’s on the screen. Figure about 10 slides for every 20 minutes of presentation time. Your font size should be 30 point or larger.

8. Handouts are a must: Make sure you give them something to take home with them. What I also do is create a handout and then offer to email my audience the PowerPoint presentation they just viewed. I get them to sign up for it, which gives me their email addresses to not only send them the presentation, but a thank-you note along with an invitation to join our newsletter!

9. Record yourself: As scary as this sounds, this is one of the best ways to better yourself as a speaker. Record your presentation and wait a day to listen to it, this will give you enough “space” from the program to clear your mind and listen to the audio objectively. Note what you liked and didn’t like and don’t worry if you feel like you flubbed the whole thing. Remember that your audience isn’t grading you, they are there for information, and as long as you lived up to your promise you can keep correcting and enhancing your speaking talent with each program.

10. Now let’s talk about BOR (back of the room product). Your BOR can make a huge difference in the money you make on your speaking. Most new speakers don’t make money on speaking, or very little, but the BOR is where you can strike gold. Here are some tips to maximize it. First off, your flexibility for BOR will depend on whether you’re presenting in a speaker-type setup or at a bookstore, but either way, have product to sell regardless of who supplies it. If you can be flexible with what you offer, try packaging several items together, offer a one-time discount for the packaged product and this is a little trick I borrowed from a friend of mine: put together several packages, high end, low end and something in the middle. Attendees of your event will generally pick the middle of the road pricing, which is probably more than you’d sell a single book for. Also, get folks to sign up for your mailing list. Regardless of what you can and can’t sell, make sure you can add people to your list so you can market to them again, and again, and again!

Another great post by Donna Gunter

http://www.Onlinebizu.com

Recently I was asked in an interview to imagine  that I was starting all over again, and as a  newbie, how I would fill my business in 60  days. Things have changed tremendously since I  began my online business in 1999, mostly for  the better.  Most of the steps, however remain  the same.  Best of all, the strategies I  recommend to fill your business are the same  ones that can be applied to any business, and  then applied again and again to other online  ventures.  Here are 8 secrets to filling the  prospect funnel in your business in 60 days:

1.  Success mind set.  Don’t gloss over this  strategy — it may be the most important of  all. If you truly want to succeed in your  business and are passionate about what you do,  nothing will hold you back.  This often means  that you have to step out in faith that you’ll  succeed, and most importantly, believe in  yourself as a success.  Sure, you may stumble,  or even fall, but you must be willing to pick  yourself back up and persevere — even without  a safety net hanging under you.

2.  Target market.  The biggest mistake that  business owners make is wanting to sell to  everyone. If you’ve tried this, you have no  doubt discovered that casting your net around  everyone is a very difficult task.  Narrowing  that group to a more manageable number will  actually serve you much better, believe it or  not. If you can identify a smaller group of  hungry prospects who are willing to pay for the  solutions to the problems that keep them awake  at night (or those who are willing to pay for  more information about a hobby or interest that  occupies much of their free time) AND who are  reachable in groups (associations, membership  sites, magazines, newsletters, discussion  forums or lists, social networking groups,  etc.), then you have made a key discovery that  will catapult your business forward.

3.  Client Attraction Device.  You’ve heard it  said time and time again that “the money is in  the list.”  This still holds true today, as  well. Without a list of interested prospects  to whom you can market, you don’t have a  business.  The quickest way to begin to develop  a list is to give something away. Yes, you  heard me correctly.  If you have content you  have already created, dig through that to see  if you have something appropriate for your  chosen target market.

If not, identify a problem of your target  market, and create some content that answers  one of those problems.  Perhaps it’s a  checklist, a Top 10 list, an ebook or special  report, an audio interview, a pod cast, a video  — do whatever is easiest for you.  Just ensure  that it is in a plug and play format , i.e.  don’t make your prospect download some weird  software that’s not commonplace to read and  view this material.

Make sure that your Client Attraction Device  has some valuable content in it.  Nothing is  more frustrating to me than to read a free  giveway that only serves to remind me that I  have a problem and offers no solution unless I  pay for it.  Don’t be afraid to demonstrate  your expertise by giving “how to” information  away.  Trust me, if you are truly good at what  you do, there’s no way that you can share  everything you know on a topic in one short  information product. Your Client Attraction  Device starts your prospects on the like, know,  and trust road that is imperative for them to  travel before they will decide to buy something  from you.

4.  Email marketing system.  You must have some  way to collect your prospect’s information and  a system by which you can stay in contact with  them. The best way to do this is by purchasing  email marketing services.  I use  GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com (link to  http://www.getmoreclientsautoresponder.com).   Do not use a free service for this, nor try to  send emails out of your Outlook program.  If  you want to be a serous online business owner,  invest in the most important asset in your  business — your email marketing system.

5.  Blogsite.  A blogsite, which is a  web site/blog hybrid, is the quickest way to  build an online presence. The two most popular  blogging platforms, the fee-based Typepad  (link  to http://www.Typepad.com) and open source  software WordPress (link to  http://www.wordpress.org), can be used to  create a blogsite very quickly.  If you want  either of them customized with a particular  look or feel, that may take a bit longer and  require a greater investment.  However, either  will work well to get you started, and both  will permit you to enter your email marketing  system’s sign up code onto a page so that you  can immediately begin to collect contact  information from prospects who have requested  your Client Attraction Device.

6. Stay in touch. Whether you do this by  submitting regular blog posts or publishing an  email newsletter (or both), you need to reach  out and touch your prospects at least weekly (or  several times a week if you are blogging). Give them some insights about what’s happening  with you personally as well as sharing some  aspect of your expertise with them by creating  a content-rich article or answering their  questions.  And, don’t forget to sell — offer  some product or service in each email  newsletter, or submit regular blog posts that  remind your readers about what you are selling.

7.  Social networking.  Never before have we  had the opportunity to connect with others  online easily and inexpensively as we do now  with social networking. Create profiles on the  social networks) used by your target market,  do research to add friends/followers in your  target market, and use the status updates to be  useful to your followers, i.e. by sharing  resources, asking questions, and updating them  about how you help clients/customers.

8.  Drive traffic to your site.  There are a  number of ways to accomplish this, but my  favorite starts with writing an article. Once  it’s written, I publish it in my ezine, my  blog, and to my web site and syndicate it on  article directories all over the Web through  GetMoreClientsArticles.com (link to  http://www.getmoreclientsarticles.com).  Then I  have the option of making a pod cast with the  content; creating a screencast video or  “talking head” video from it; writing and  submitting a press release; creating a  teleclass; create a Q&A radio show interview  opportunity; breaking up the points as separate  Twitter posts, or Tweets, and tweeting them to  my followers; or sharing it on my Squidoo lens  or other information-sharing portals.  The  point here is to work once and profit, profit,  profit.  Repurpose one article as many ways as  you can to drive traffic back to your blogsite  and thus get more and more prospects to sign up  on your list and ultimately convert them to  customers.

The advent of the Internet makes it easier than  every to create and promote a business online  with very little startup capital.  And, if done  correctly, the strategies will results in you  filling your business in 60 days with eager and  willing prospects ready to buy what you are  offering.

Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time by teaching them how to automate their businesses, leverage their expertise, and get found online.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

Great post by Wendi McNeill.  I could not agree with her comments more.

I can’t stress the importance for each and every speaker to create a strong online presence. Today about 90% or more of your buyers are going online to find their experts and you want to found quickly and easily. Below are a few tips to help you build a strong online presence.

The most obvious of course is a website. Have a site that speaks directly to your audience and one that clearly states your message so there is no confusion in the visitors mind as to what you do, what you have to offer and how you can benefit them our their audience. Make your site is easy to navigate and has all pertinent information. No flash, it not necessary and it’s a distraction plus it makes your site load slow and they will close it and move on to another website. Be sure and have your media kit online because this is where buyers want to find it. Don’t send hard copies through the mail unless requested.

Create videos and more videos! Today a lot of your marketing tools online are free or low cost so you all should be taking advantage of them because they will boost your online presence. Use YouTube to get your videos online and then copy and paste the HTML code and add the video to your website and blog. Your video can become a viral marketing campaign and be shared worldwide. It will also give the buyer a little taste of what you have to offer them.

Blog. Set up your blog and post on a regular basis you will be amazed at the results. Consistently be adding new content to your blog…search engines love new content. Many put off blogging because they feel its time consuming or they’re not sure what to blog about and this is a mistake. Remember your blog post doesn’t have to be the length of an article, it can be a short paragraph, some helpful tips or you can even share a post from another blogger, but be sure you add their blog link. Blogging will allow you to voice your opinion and stand out from the crowd and show the readers that you’re the expert in your subject matter. It builds credibility and increases exposure. You can set up a free blog platform using several blogging services.

Write articles on a regular basis, this is another top marketing technique. You are an expert and you know your subject matter very well, you speak in front of hundreds, so writing a short article on a regular basis should be a breeze for you. Once written make sure you submit it online to several article marketing submission sites and I highly suggest using EzineArticles to start. Offer your article to other bloggers who you feel may be interested, pitch your article to local, regional and national publications and add the article to your website. Remember to share your article as well with your social media followers. Article writing will expose you as an expert and give you more credibility. Your article could very well end up on a website you never dreamed possible so don’t hesitate on this one…just get it done.

Social Media. Yes we mention SM again and again and the importance of being involved with social media. This one I can go into length on but to briefly touch on it I would say that the two top and obvious ones to get involved with are Twitter and Facebook. Share high content and be helpful, this is not the place for hard selling but creating relationships and sharing your expertise. If you go the extra mile and truly share from your heart you will be amazed at the results social media marketing will bring you.

Sharpen your search engine process. Make sure you are clear on the keywords you use and be specific so buyers can find you. Most buyers will do a search when looking for an expert so make sure you don’t just have keywords such as professional speaker, workshop leader, coach or trainer. Use keywords that fit your subject matter.

Sign up box. Don’t forget to add this to your website. You can do all the marketing in the world but if you do not have a way to capture your visitors email and name it can be for waste. Your site has many purposes but the top two are going to be to showcase and grow your mailing list. Don’t use your ezine to entice visitors to sign up this doesn’t work anymore. Offer them something of value; create urgency as to why they need to sign up for it NOW. Be very target specific and let it speak directly to your audience.

Have a monthly ezine that you share with your readers. It’s important to stay in touch with your readers and always giving and sharing helpful content. Don’t oversell in your ezine or you will find people opting out. You want to provide information that will help them grow or solve their problems. Be a resource for them, let them come to like, know and trust you this will open the doors to communication, relationships and many opportunities.

Become a Media Magnet. With this I mean get yourself out there and everywhere so the media eventually comes to you for interviews and guest spots. The more media attention you can get via radio, TV, publications, etc. the more you will build your exposure and credibility. This will open many, many doors for you including speaking events and product sales. If your new to this start little by contacting your local media outlets and when you have done a few move on to regional and then national. Don’t forget about all the online media outlets as well. You want to become the ‘Go To’ expert in your field. Also, make sure you add all your interviews, guest spots, etc. on your website because this will build your platform and shows visitors that you are the expert they seek.

Send out Press Releases. You can do this to announce your upcoming events, new products, teleclasses, workshops, etc. If you have news to share be sure and get it out there via a press release and there are many free press release submission sites, simply do a Google search.

The above are just a few ideas and there are so many but it’s important to get yourself out there and be everywhere you possibly can online. You want the buyer to find you easily so when they type in your keywords, for example: Career Transition Expert you come up in the top on the Google search results, you want to have many pages of information just on you so they can see that yes you are indeed the expert they seek.

Wendi McNeill, Founder of Charli Jane Speaker Services and has been “Opening Doors of Opportunity” for public speakers since 2002. She is an expert in positioning and marketing public speakers, a workshop leader, speaking agent and also provides experts to media professionals and buyers.

You can find Wendi and plenty of resources and tips on www.CharliJane.com and also on http://www.Facebook.com/Wendi.McNeill

By Kathleen Gage

Please leave comments as Kathleen will be coming by on 3/17 to answer your questions.

Make millions, drive fancy cars, buy big houses, enjoy trips around the world.  All without effort, work or time invested. And anyone can do it.

All of this and more has been promised to speakers and authors who are eager to build their business using the Internet. The problem? It’s hyped-up baloney.

Although you can make a great living, drive luxury cars, live in a beautiful home and travel extensively, it’s not without work, effort and commitment.

How do I know? I’ve had an Internet-based business for years. I make a great living for one very important reason. I run my Internet-based business like I would any other type of business — like a business.

Sadly, far too many people get sucked into plopping down money with the promise of fame and fortune only to be disappointed when things don’t happen as promised. The fact is that anyone who says you can have it all without effort is blowing smoke.

So how do you know what’s hype and what is the real deal when it comes to learning what it takes to build a business using the Internet? Research, patience, no rose-colored glasses and commitment.

In the 15-plus years I have been a professional speaker and 10 years plus I have been an author, how we —my counterparts and I — market has drastically changed. The fact we have to market has not, but how we do has. In many ways it is a lot easier than ever before.

Yet, there are many speakers and authors who are so intimidated by marketing they continually avoid it.

The reality is most authors will never sell more than a handful of books because they haven’t given much thought to how potential readers will find their books.  Many think their book is going to be “discovered” simply by writing it.

It’s the same with professional speakers. Many live with the misguided belief that all they have to do is have a great speech and everything else will take care of itself.

However, in order for you to sell your books, speeches, consulting services, coaching and anything clients will pay for, you must market.

This is where lots of people freeze, shut down and run the other way — fast! They love writing and speaking, but fear the unknown of getting the word out. They are often the same people who say how lucky bestselling authors and superstar speakers are.

Luck has very little to do with one’s success. A solid marketing plan with focused implementation of the plan is more likely the driving force behind one’s success.

It’s essential to create balance that allows you not only to develop your craft, but to market, too. If you’re not one who wants to do your own marketing, an option is to hire to assist you someone who specializes in Internet marketing for speakers and authors.

This is where I get lots of pushback from those on a limited budget. “I don’t have the money to hire someone!” is their constant battle cry.

The fact is either you get on board with your own marketing, you accept that you need to budget for reliable and knowledgeable help or accept that your success will never be at the level you truly desire.
With all that’s available by way of the Internet it’s actually a lot easier to market and sell books, presentations and consulting services than in the past.

However, in some ways it is more difficult due to the number of authors and speakers vying for the same market as you. Your job is to stand out in such a way that people know about you and are eager to buy whatever it is you sell.

There are dozens upon dozens of ways you can promote your products and services from the comfort of your home.
Here is a partial list of what you can do.

•   Virtual book tour
•   Promote to your opt-in subscribers
•    Web-radio interviews
•    Dedicated blog
•    Guest-blog postings
•    Article writing with a link back to your blog or the Amazon page
•    Facebook FanPage
•    Teleseminars
•    Joint-venture promotions campaign
•    Video trailers
•    YouTube Channel

There are countless more, but you get the idea. Each day do something to get the word out. However, it is best to avoid trying to do everything all at once.

Begin with one idea to implement and add something new every few days. If I had never marketed before I would begin with a dedicated blog. Why? Because the blog is the hub of all your other marketing. You can use your blog postings in a number of effective ways that all link together.

Regardless of what you choose to do first, just start. Avoid one of our main enemies as authors and speakers — procrastination. “I’ll start tomorrow” is one of the most dangerous phrases you can say. Tomorrow will never come.

To successfully market and sell, begin today. Even fifteen minutes a day can make a huge difference. The difference between the dream of a successful business and actually experiencing success is the difference between thinking about marketing and actually doing so.

Kathleen Gage is an Amazon.com bestselling author. She works with spiritually aware speakers, authors, coaches and consultants who are ready to turn their knowledge into money-making products and services. Learn exactly what you need to do to market your books, your services and yourself with Kathleen’s VIP Club. Click here to learn more.

Have a Presence

The first step in becoming a paid speaker is to position yourself so that you can provide value. Your product is what you say, so if you communicate intelligent things online you are on the right track. Twitter, blogs, online video and podcasts are great platforms to express your message to the world. This gives potential clients an excellent place to get a free sneak preview of what you can provide. Video works great because the audience actually feels like they get to know you.

Your website should say exactly what you stand for and what you can provide for an audience, it should scream “John Jantsch is awesome!” but not “I am so awesome! I’m god’s greatest gift to earth!” Nobody likes someone who over hypes him/herself. The proof is in the pudding, so let your work speak for itself; that’s why content in the form of text, video or audio works so well.

It is incredible how many referrals you can attract by simply having a presence. Online, all people need to do is make a quick introduction on Twitter and potential clients will start checking out your content. Referrals are so powerful because they are often done by trusted friends–when a friend directs someone to quality content of yours, it doubles the impact.

Build your Bio

Your bio should solidify your credibility. If it’s not up to par yet, check out these 59 Ways to Grow Your Credibility. Bio’s need to be short and to the point. Often times they are read for your introduction so don’t just rattle off all your fancy degrees and awards, make it sound like you are a real person. Adding humor is a major bonus, as most intros are incredibly bland and boring. Your bio is just as important as a resume and if you aren’t comfortable writing your own bio, have a friend write it for you.

Adding in your biggest press mentions is critical in growing that credibility. As soon as your potential client or audience hears “Whoa he’s been in BusinessWeek?”, they start to pay attention.

Have a Speaking Tab on your website

Here is where your bio, headshot, testimonials, speaking resume, highlight reel and description of your value driven talk go. This should be very obviously placed on your site and linked with your about page. Now, when people find your site and want to learn more about you, they’ll automatically know you are a speaker and learn more than they ever wanted to know about you.

Don’t forget to include your email address or booking agent’s contact information so they can get in contact with you.

Often times referrals in the speaking industry come from people who say “I just heard John Janstch speak, he was awesome”. They might not actually know John well enough to put you in contact with him, so you’ll have to be found on Google. Reaching your homepage or your speaking tab is what will get the referral in the door. You might not ever hear where the referral was generated, so make sure you make it as easy as possible for them to find you.

Have a hook

If you ever wanted to get paid to speak again, you’ll need to have a point to your talk. Reel them in early with some thought provoking ideas, maybe a joke or exercise to get everyone involved. Your first minute of your talk is where the audience passes judgment so get them on your team early and let them know what they are going to get out of your performance because they are probably already wondering “why am I here.”

Your talk should do two things: 1. Teach the audience something 2. Tell your story in a way your audience can relate.

How do conversations spark in the world of speaking referrals? “Matt Wilson used this awesome example about G-String businesses 2 minutes into his talk.” If people don’t remember what you talked about it, they won’t spread the word for you. Have something that hooks them in and keeps them thinking about it days after the talk. The 1-2 week period is when most word of mouth referrals will happen.

Start Small

Don’t expect to get paid right off the bat if you’ve never spoken anywhere before, so start off small. Local high schools, colleges and organizations are always looking for some inspiration. Call them and get your foot in the door. Search meetup.com and call the president of these groups, they are always looking for a way to fill meetings. If you have something to teach others, schedule a seminar with a local library or chamber of commerce. Not only is it a great way to build your resume, but it’s also a fantastic way to network. Have plenty of business cards on hand.

It is in your community where you are going to start to form relationships that lead to referrals. Small business referrals start by having your go-to accountant, lawyer, real estate broker, etc. and drive them business. If they saw you speak at the Chamber of Commerce, why wouldn’t they want to bring you in to the local Toastmasters group?

Ask to get paid

Josh Shipp of HeyJosh.com says, “How did I make the leap from non-paid to paid? Watch: I asked to be paid. At first $500. Then $1,000. Then $2,500. Now $5,000.
If you’re good at what you do, you’ll find the more you charge the more demand you’re in and the better clients you’ll get. You get what you charge for.”

Referrals come by truly helping other people. If you deliver on content, inspire them and give them value to take home, then people will not only be happy to pay you, but happy to refer you to others.

Build Testimonials

Your speaking resume, should include links to any press from the event. This provides instant credibility to say you rocked out on the big stage. Testimonials are literally referrals in written or video form. They are recommendations that you can use anywhere. When you put them online they have the power for millions to view which grows trust with every one of your potential clients.

Collect videos from your talks as people are walking out or come up to you after and favorite every nice thing people say about me on Twitter and link it up!

Creating a highlight reel builds both social proof and your expertise, by showing a mix of positive reactions in a live setting and clips of you on stage. The people who speak positively are literally making their referral to the whole world.

Have an Agent or Bureau

If you are looking for more speaker referrals, it helps if you are paying someone a referral fee to connect you with more engagements. Bureaus and agents typically work on a percentage basis of everything they book for you, leaving very little risk or upfront investment on your part. These are the people with connections to shop you around, so why not give them a referral fee?

Start Hustling

Want to do it on your own? It’s time to roll up your sleeves and get people to refer you. Start asking people who compliment you who they know; these people often know tons of people in their industry that would also benefit from hearing your talk. Ask them who they know and be upfront about it. You just helped them by delivering massive value with a great performance and you are looking to help more people in your niche. If they refer you to someone else and you are a rock star, it’ll be huge benefit to them too!

Referrals all come down to over delivering with your service and wow-ing your audience enough to start some chatter. Word of mouth really works!

Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30CEO.com urging people to drop the 9-5 and get passionate about something. Follow him on Twitter  @MattWilsontv as the Gen-Y spokesperson looking to help every young entrepreneur on the planet.

Post by Lisa Sassevich

Lisa at the Speakers Summit

When you’re trying to get booked to speak on stages or teleseminars, it’s crucial to give your talk a hooky title. By that I mean, an instantly appealing and easy to remember name. A hooky talk title can mean the difference between getting booked or not and between a big audience or a disappointing turnout.

I learned this the hard way. When I was first starting, I taught a course for women about how to understand men. At the time, though, I didn’t understand the elements of a catchy title, so the introductory event was called: “The Amazing Development of Men.” Not surprisingly, we drew very small audiences.

The title didn’t grab them because the secret to a truly hooky title was missing. That secret is to clearly state the transformation that the audience will experience as a result of attending.

When I realized that, we changed the title to: “Understand Men 101.” And guess what happened? Attendance skyrocketed. We started drawing women by the hundreds because the benefit was so clear and compelling!

So the key to crafting your own hooky talk title is to include in the title the outcome that your audience will experience from attending. Here is a simple two-step process for doing that:

1. Ask yourself: What is the transformation that I provide?
To get clear on the transformation that attendees will experience, start with your own clients. What is the outcome that your clients get as a result of working with you?

Focus on the client who is your greatest success story. What outcome did she receive? List all of the exact results of working with you. Did she save time, money or energy? Gain clarity or understanding? Improve her health?

Now, ask yourself: What other transformations happened in her life because of those results? For example, if you’re a nutritionist, a diabetic client may have lost 100 pounds and no longer needs to take insulin. Her direct results include: greatly improved health and well-being, a longer lifespan potential and weight loss, but her relationships with her family and at work were also transformed because she no longer suffers from off-putting mood swings and low energy.

2. Create your title using the list of transformations you just generated. After you’ve done step one, you’ll end up with a whole list of very real transformations in your client’s life that you can draw from to create your outcome-focused talk titles.

Which of those transformations are most compelling? Or most universal? For instance, the nutritionist might try: “Reverse Diabetes Using Diet Alone” or “Diabetics! Kiss Mood Swings and Energy Dips Goodbye Forever!” That speaks to anyone suffering from that disease.

As you go about crafting your own hooky titles, remember to keep these guidelines in mind:

• Put the outcome that people can expect into the title itself. For example, “Reverse Diabetes…,” “Understand Men….”

• Appeal to their pain. My title addressed the pain and frustration that many women feel because they don’t understand why men do the things they do.

• Don’t sacrifice hooky for cute. Sometimes people try to have cute titles that are clever but nobody knows what they mean. You want your title to be immediately appealing and recognizable. For example, I often speak on “Boost Sales Using Irresistible Offers” because as much as I love my brand, The Invisible Close, the outcome is not obvious as a title unless I use my tag line “For those who love what they do but hate selling!”

So get out there and take that first exciting step, create that talk title! And then right after that, plan to join me June 10–12 in San Diego for the LIVE “Invisible Close Speak-to-Sell Bootcamp,” where you’ll create offers you love, a talk that sells and gain the confidence that comes with being prepared!

What is your hooky talk title? Let us know on our blog.

has x-ray vision for seeing the sales opportunities that exist in every company, and the creativity to convert them into gold! If you’re looking for simple, quick and easy ways to boost sales without spending a dime, get your FREE Sales Nuggets now at www.theinvisibleclose.com.

Lisa is offering a complimentary teleclass on March 17.  Click here to sign up

Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling

The first rule in “Naming Your Prospect” is to ask for a title not an activity. Do not ask for “the person who makes the decision to purchase….” Making the “decision to purchase…” is an activity and may get you a name, however, it will most likely be the name of someone who is involved but not in a decision-making capacity.

A better approach is to figure out what department the decision is likely made in and then find out who is the head of that department. If, for example, you know that the decision to purchase whatever you are selling is made in the Marketing Department ask for the head of the Marketing Department. This could be the senior vice president, or vice president or director. If you are calling small companies the person you want to reach is most likely the Owner

Once you have identified the appropriate title or titles(there may be variations from company to company):
1. Check the prospect company’s web site. This is the easiest way to find your prospect’s name.Thanks to the Internet, many companies today list executive and/or senior management on their web sites.

2. Ask the receptionist. Dial the company’s main number and ask the front line person who answers the line for the name of the person who has the appropriate title. Be prepared to throw out variations of that title as different companies may use different titles for the same type of position. When you are calling large companies receptionist s do not screen calls. That question, “What is this in reference to?” is actually a request for information. Keep suggesting titles until one sounds familiar to that receptionist.

3. Call the Chief Executive Officer. The theory here is that Executive Assistants know everything.Call the CEO’s office and ask the Executive Assistant for some help, “I’m wondering if you can help me.” Tell the Executive Assistant exactly what you need and she will more than likely point you in the right direction.

4. Randomly change the general switchboard number extensions. If the switchboard number is 5000, call 5001, 5002… until you reach a human being. It won’t be the right human being, but that’s ok. Once you reach a human being ask that person to help you, “I’m wondering if you can help me.” Ask, “Do you have a company directory?” When asked, most people are very happy to help.

5. The made-up name. Sometimes companies will not give out information unless you have a name. In this case, make up a name and then ask for that person. The switchboard operator will tell you there is no one there by that name. You then say, “Oh, (Made up Name) used to be the (Title). Who has taken over for her?”Many times this will work to get you the right name.

6. Ask a sales person. Call the sales department and speak with a sales person.Say, “I’m wondering if you can help me.” Sales people will understand and if they can they will help you. Tell the sales person exactly who you are trying to reach. If they do not know the correct name ask, “Do you have a directory handy?Could you look that up for me?”

7. Ask Customer Service. Customer Service is there to help. Call them and ask for help, “I’m wondering if you can help me.” Many times Customer Service can give you the information that you require. Again, if the Customer Service representative does not know the correct name ask, “Do you have a directory handy? Could you look that up for me?”

With these seven ways of naming your prospect, finding the decision-maker should never again be an issue.

Wendy Weiss, “The Queen of Cold Calling,” is a sales trainer, author and sales coach. She is recognized as one of the leading authorities on lead generation, cold calling and new business development and she helps clients speed up their sales cycle, reach more prospects directly and generate more sales revenue. Contact her at wendy@wendyweiss.com. Get Wendy’s free Special Report, Getting in the Door: How to Write an Effective Cold Calling Script, at http://www.wendyweiss.com.
© 2010 Wendy Weiss

www.speakerservices.com

Feb 2010 E-Zine

Boy was I blown away when I saw that over 1,200 people downloaded the complimentary preview teleclass mp3 call for the Speakers Summit http://ping.fm/thJw8 Get Booked at Colleges with Brent Scarpo, Jack Barnard and myself last week.  It’s a hot topic and Brent and Jack gave us great content. We learned what topics are hot in the high school and college market.  This was just the tip of the iceberg.  Brent promises to share more with us on how to get paid gigs in the college market and who to call on.

Are you investing in your speaking/marketing career?  You can transform your speaking as training does make difference  The Speakers Summit10 The theme is Position, Prospect, Prospect- The Road Ahead is our annual event and here are some of the topics our experts will be sharing with the audience so that you can bring your message to the heart and mind of the audience.  BTW:  No hard sell, we are content driven and reasonably priced.

- Discover your niche that suits your passion and skills
- Create content that meets the needs of your audience.
- Leverage Social Networking skills to grow your business
- Get Paid to speak at High Schools & Colleges
- Make an extra $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with high impact coaching programs
- Repurpose, produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Prospecting for speaking engagements: Systematize the booking process
- Bypass Gatekeepers and Voicemail & Reach Your Prospect Directly
- Explore why video is one of the best forms of viral marketing
- From Passion to Profits
- Think and Grow Rich

Expert Presenters: Jack Barnard,  Brent Scarpo, Greg S. Reid, Sabrina Gibson, Joel Bauer, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Michael Macfarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey.

Read the program/register.  Save $100 sign up by Feb 26.

Today I am sharing to articles with you one from Ursuala Mentjes, Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? Ursula will be speaking at the Summit PROSPECTING FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, Master the Art of Speaking and Selling with Intention.

Let me know how I can assist you.  Give me a call for a comp session.

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, 310-822-4922 PT

PS   Feb  8 – Comp preview teleclass for Speakers Summit discussion:  Online Video Strategies Register here

________

New Speakers for Feb 2010

See all Speakers

Anastasios Nestoras, Ph.D.
Sports medicine expert presents The Training Revolution, a streamlined, cutting-edge system that takes the drudgery and guesswork out of fitness and brings back the fun.
Fitness, Health, Healthy Lifestyle

Barbara Flood
Business Executive Life Coach shows how to hear and accept life’s call to embark on your personal hero or heroine’s journey, tap your greatest strengths, and find balance between personal humility and professional will.
Baby Boomers, Business Spirituality, Inspirational, Motivational

Wade “Biskit” Hatch
Motivational Wrangler shows how to break free from the herd mentality and head down the freedom trail to the life you deserve.
Change, Motivational, Time Management, Work/Life Balance

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Speakers Community Teleclass

Teleclasses are free for Speakers’ Community Members. Not a member? Join Now to access the calls with my special FREE 2- month Speakers’ Community trial.  Past members can re-join at regular monthly rate

Feb 11 Media Interviews that Gets You Gigs, Clients with Gayl Murphy

What if you go on TV and you don’t know what to do?

Can you “tell it to sell it?” If you can’t tell your story (who you are and what you do) to one person in 10 seconds or less, how can you tell it to a million?

Did you know that business networking is exactly the same as being on the “Today” show?

What if the Rachel Ray Show called you today, for a last minute replacement slot on the show for tomorrow, would you be prepared?

Can you pitch your business to anyone, any place, anytime or anywhere, regardless of whether or not they fit the profile of your typical target consumer? If not, why not?

Learn more/register

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Introducing Seed Nurturing post from Modern B2B Marketing

One thing you’ll notice about most lead nurturing campaigns is the fact that they usually take place after prospects land on your site and enter your database. However, what happens when qualified prospects visit your site or social media sites anonymously where you don’t necessarily have their names or e-mails?

This is where seed nurturing comes into play. Seed nurturing is the process of building relationships with qualified prospects before you have their contact information.

It comes down to is this: prospects are educating themselves long before you actually identify them by landing on your corporate Web site as anonymous visitors, and researching your products and services through third-party resources, word-of-mouth recommendations, and social media sites. Just because you can’t identify these individuals doesn’t mean they aren’t qualified prospects — and because of this, you must nurture them just as you would the known contacts in your database.

If you succeed at this, you will stay top of mind with your prospects as they educate themselves and move through the early stages of their buying process. As a result, they will come to you when they are ready to engage with a sales rep, and you will create a steady flow of highly qualified inbound leads. If you ignore the requirement to build relationships with these very early stage prospects, you’re yielding this opportunity to more agile competitors who will scoop these savvy prospects out from under you.

Seed nurturing best practices

Personalize interactions with anonymous visitors
When prospects visit your website anonymously, you can and should still take advantage of the visit to deepen the relationship with them with relevant and personalized content. You may not know their name and email address, but you certainly can know a great deal about their interests and behaviors. First time visitors can see different offers than repeat visitors. Visitors that use specific search terms can see different promotions that generic visitors. Visitors who visit specific pages and show specific interests can see even more specialized content and offers. Using these techniques, you can design “drip marketing” campaigns that help buyers educate themselves before they ever share their contact information with you. For more on this, see the on-demand webinar Supercharge your Demand Generation with Personalization (an oldie but a goodie).

Make valuable content freely available on your site and over social media.
By eliminating the need for registration in order to obtain your whitepapers, eBooks, and other valuable content, you are making the effort to build relationships with people before you have them in your database. You may be thinking to yourself, “If I do this, I’ll be wasting valuable offers on people I’ll never be able to identify.” On the contrary, you will strengthen your readership, and these dedicated yet anonymous leads will likely come to you as inbound leads once their levels of interest are high enough. Moreover, whether you like it or not, in most cases the information is already out there on social sites, so you may as well embrace the trend rather than fight it. David Merman Scott writes more on this topic in Say NO to squeezing your buyers.

Use social media to build a rock-solid reputation that builds credibility and trust with prospects.

One of the biggest obstacles in the B2B purchasing process is the feeling of risk that overcomes B2B buyers, causing them to behave irrationally during the decision-making process. Seed nurturing plays a key role in diminishing this risk by acting as a vehicle for you to build your reputation as a thought leader and gain the trust of early stage prospects. For example, you can use Twitter to inform people of your views on developments in your industry or show your ability to solve specific business pains by becoming an “Expert” on LinkedIn. B2B buyers trust thought leaders who can demonstrate they understand buyer problems and how to solve them. While a reputation of thought leadership will never be as “risk-reducing” as a personal referral, it is a great way to build awareness and increase your chances that the prospect will respond to future demand generation efforts.

Conclusion
While these ideas represent a departure from what you may consider traditional lead generation techniques, they will help you plant the seeds for highly qualified prospects to reach out to you when they are ready, and once this happens, you can rest easy knowing that you’ve nurtured them appropriately and gained their trust as you would through a traditional drip marketing campaign.
How have you incorporating seed nurturing into your marketing mix?

Posted by Jon Miller on January 27, 2010 in Demand Generation , Lead Nurturing , Modern B2B Marketing , Social Media | Introducing Seed Nurturing

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Why Didn’t I Get That Sale? By Ursula Mentjes

Throughout my years as a Sales Coach, one of the questions that my clients will sometimes ask me is, “Why didn’t I get that sale?”

I say, “sometimes” because no one wants to really talk about lost sales. We don’t even like to admit that we didn’t get the sale.

But I want to tell you that sometimes not getting the sale isn’t a bad thing. And, there are things you can do to reduce the amount of sales you don’t get.

The reality is you aren’t going to get every sale. Nor would you want to. It is important to remember, though, that selling begins in your mind.

When I wrote Selling with Intention, my primary goal was to teach Sales Professionals and Entrepreneurs that they had a lot more control over selling then they thought.  And that was the key-more than they thought. Selling begins in your mind, and when you “get that” at a deep level, selling can become effortless.

Think back to the last time you didn’t get a sale. How did the interaction begin? How did it end?  My guess is that it was one of the reasons I am going to share with you below.

Four Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Sale:

You didn’t ask.
Let’s face it. Sometimes you can have a phenomenal conversation with your prospect, and it feels like everything is going perfectly until the  end of your time together.  You can feel the time creeping up on you, the hour is almost over, but you haven’t asked for the sale yet.  Fear creeps up, strangling your vocal cords, and before you ask for the sale you find yourself scurrying out to your car, trying to get your key into the ignition as quickly as possible.  Looking back you know you could have had the sale, but you didn’t ask.

Next time you are wrapping up a great appointment with a prospect, save time at the end to take a breath and then simply offer at least three solutions for them to choose from. You will probably be surprised to find out that by simply offering choices, you WILL get more sales. I promise!

You didn’t set your intention.

Not setting your intention is a lot like not asking for the sale.  I always encourage my clients to set their intention ahead of time and actually visualize the sales process from start to finish.  Being intentional about selling is like “assuming the sale”-or expecting that you are going to get it.  Notice how you feel when you “expect” something to happen versus just “thinking” or “hoping” you are getting it.

I recommend that you expect the sale only when you are working with your Target Clients. Otherwise you will feel like you are just forcing the situation rather than letting it unfold.  Set your intention and expect to get the sale!

You didn’t really want it.
Deep down, at a gut level, you KNOW when a prospect who is sitting in front of you isn’t a Target Prospect.  A Target Prospect is a prospect that fits your ideal client profile and needs and or wants (or both) what you are selling. One of the main reasons you set an appointment with a prospect is for you to get to know them and for them to get to know you. During the process of assessing their wants and needs, you will figure out whether or not you really CAN solve their problem or help them with their products or services.

Maybe the last time you didn’t get the sale was because you didn’t really want it.  You recognized that for whatever reason, this prospect wasn’t a good fit.  And that’s okay.  In fact, it’s better than okay because you did what was in the best interest of the prospect.

You didn’t build rapport.
People buy from Sales Professionals they LIKE, KNOW and TRUST. It takes a different amount of time to build rapport depending on personality types. My friend, Laura Bruno, of The Referral Institute, teaches a great class called Room Full of Referrals. This class teaches you the different personality types and how to sell to each one. One of the reasons you might not have gotten the sale is because you didn’t take the time to build rapport with your prospect.. You can tell whether or not you have built rapport because they will either seem completely disconnected from what you are talking about, or they will be engaged. Taking time to build rapport can often be the difference between gaining a new client, or shaking your head and walking away wondering what just happened.

Action Item: Think back to the last time you didn’t get the sale.  Which reason above most accurately describes it? What could you do differently next time? Can you think of a client that you think might have said yes if you had asked for the sale? Make a commitment to yourself to call that client and set another appointment.  And then ask for the sale!

Not getting the sale often makes room for the next “big client” that is trying to get to you.  The next time you don’t get a client, and you know it was because they weren’t a fit, just be grateful. I can almost guarantee you that the next one is right around the corner!

Ursula Mentjes, M.S., ACC is the founder of Sales Coach Now, and the author of Selling with Intention and One Great Goal. Ms. Mentjes has helped clients double and triple their sales revenue in as short as two months! If you want to do the same, then visit her web-site at www.salescoachnow.com

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By Terry Dean, http://www.terrydean.org

Terry writes: I’ve been disappointed by most internet marketing conferences I’ve attended…and I’m a speaker at them!

And I could not agree with him more.  I even posted a comment on his blog page.  His comments apply to many conferences.  It is unfortunate that the hard sell ruins it for many of us who are into sharing content and not about hawking our services.

Often times, I hear from folks who do not know about us and they say, why should I attend your events when I will be sold too?

More from Terry Dean…and I welcome your comments too.

I remember a couple where the majority of presentations were simply sales pitches for products without delivering any content (even though it was constantly mentioned how great the content was).

In addition there are a couple of popular speaking courses that teach you step-by-step how to build an hour (or longer) “training session” with no more than a couple of minutes of real content. The rest being a covert sales pitch. How do I know that’s what they teach? I bartered for one and bought another when wanting to improve my speaking ability – only to find out I couldn’t use what they taught. <http://www.terrydean.org>

This weekend was different.

Mark Hendricks put on an excellent event which I spoke at yesterday in Orlando. There was a good group of speakers including experts like Willie Crawford, Doug Champigny, Elsom Elridge, Jr., Joey Smith, and others (please don’t anyone be offended for me not publishing a full list – everyone did a great job).

But Mark didn’t something a little different that helped create the tone of the event. He had each speaker do their presentation and then do a 20 minute workshop on a subject they discussed. During the conference, attendees wrote a press release, wrote a post for their blog, prepared goals in multiple areas of their life, scheduled their weekly plans, looked for potential JV partners, choose projects to outsource, and more.

They didn’t just sit and listen.  They put what they learned into practice.

I’ve been at a few other workshops like this in the past (I remember speaking at 2 Joel Christopher did like this). Without fail, including this workshop element increases the value for everyone involved. It’s been true every time I’ve seen it used.

The workshop element with every presentation not only forces the audience to take action (and to see just how easy the actions really are), but it also forces the speakers to think in terms of providing a step-by-step system the attendees can follow.

I recommend attending workshops like this instead of just “seminars” because there is so much more value in this type of setup.
Another element I noticed is how the message stayed pretty consistent throughout the weekend.
Many of the speakers for example talked about how a WordPress blog (like this one) is the “center” of their business. Content is provided here. Products are sold out of the blog. Participation in social media is directed back to the blog. It’s your center of authority in your business.

Instead of promoting a dozen different sites (products and services you may offer), you focus on pulling people back to your blog site and getting them on your list. Then everything else flows out of here.

The other major core emphasis I could see was on quick and easy product development. Instead of struggling for months on products (like many people do in the beginning), get started quickly and test the market with quicker, easier products such as an interview with an expert. If that first product sells well, then expand out to larger kits and more complete elements…

An important element of your business is testimonials.  I teach my clients to collect their testimonials from their speaking engagements and add them to their marketing packets, blogs. flyers and websites.

LinkedIn has a recommendation section where you can write testimonials about your colleagues.  The following testimonials came from LinkedIn.

Here is how I will use them:  Posting it right here on my blog, adding it to my speaking coaching page on my website.

It is tricky to say I am the greatest…however, if you use a third party endorsement you can say Executive Coach, so and so said ….. Now you can add it to your bio and speaker introduction.

I love the following words.  This is how my colleagues and clients rate me on LinkedIn.

Qualities: Great Results , Personable, Creative, Expert , Good Value, Integrity

“Susan is a brilliant, dedicated and enthusiastic teacher and coach. She has helped my sister to develop professional skills in public speaking, in front of live groups and on video. Her seminars and newsletters are chock full of invaluable information yet despite her popularity, Susan treats everyone as a unique and important individual. I would highly recommend her.”
- Sigrid Macdonald, Writer , Freelance

“Susan offers a great deal of information at an affordable price. Her speaker services calls and services offer a great deal of support for speakers.”
- Jeanette Chasworth, Interior Designer

“Susan helps speakers grow in their skills and marketing capabilities. She invests her time, energy, passion and expertise to develop others. I worked with Susan at a speaker showcase and video production session in Beverly Hills, and got fantastic results from the event and the video. I highly recommend Susan to anyone who wants to boost their speaking career to the next level.”
- Gene Mage, Speaker

“Susan provides a toolbox of services and experts for the business person or author who wants to develop a revenue stream from speaking engagements. I used both her training and directory and more than doubled my speaking revenue in less than 90 days.”
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach, Speaker

“Susan Levin will push you into greatness. She knows what needs to be done to help you and she will make sure you get there. She has an amazing capacity to attract some of the best speakers and teachers to her seminars.”
- Gurutej Khalsa

“I had the occasion to refer a client to Susan and Speaker Services. The reports from my client were glowing, beyond her expectations. She reported tremendous value from the experience with Susan. I will refer to her again and again.”
- Rory Cohen, Founder and President , Entelekey, Inc./Take 10 now

“Through her web site, www.speakerservices.com, I have received several speaking invitations which turned into contracts. Susan is well connected in the speaking community and is willing to share her connections and vast knowledge. Whenever ANYONE asks me how to begin a public speaking career my FIRST recommendation is that they visit Susan’s web site and join her networks. Susan has also given me a great deal of personal advice which has helped me go forward in my career as a speaker and consultent. I am honored to know Susan and to have the opportunity to work with her.”
- Michael Hingson, Speaker

“Susan is a great resource for anyone who wants to expand their talents in speaking and writing. I have worked with Susan on several occasions and she has always been helpful with great advice. You can count on Susan to give you un-biased advice that is in your best interest. Her company, Speaker Services is worth your investment if you want to become a speaker or writer for profit.”
- Steve Martinez

“I first met Susan at a meeting for the National Speakers Association and heard her speak. She offers wonderful services for anyone who is thinking about becoming a speaker professionally. I recommend her services highly.
- Basia Chris, Marketive”

“Susan is just amazing at getting new speakers up and running in the profession.”
- Debra Valle, Coach

“Susan’s years of experience pay off! She is able to help clients always create a professional product that will take them to the next step on the way to their goals.”
- Camille Leon, President , WAVEgeneration

“Susan has a tremendous wealth of knowledge pertaining to the speaking world. Her events are extremely entertaining and filled with useful information from people at the highest peak in their speaking careers. I was introduced to Susan three years ago at the start of my new career. I wanted to learn how to become a more effective speaker, however life and mainly fears gave way to me avoiding a phone call to Susan. That changed a year ago when I enrolled in the Speaker’s Bootcamp. Along with Jack Barnard, Susan has taught me so much that week about the art of speaking but mainly, the spirit within me to capture my audience. I highly encourage anyone interested in learning about how to become a speaker to contact Susan and her band of merry teachers. You will be a better person for it; even just to be in her network.”
- Keav Ung , Financial Consultant , Retirement Benefits Consulting

“Susan does such an amazing job of putting on seminars that really help people improve their speaking abilities and effectiveness in any environment. She also has an ability to attract great people to her workshops so that you are surrounded by high level instructors and fellow students. I highly recommend her to anyone interested in speaking.”
- Raul Martinez

“Susan is a long-time pro when it comes to helping people get going in the speaking business, and I say that in a good way. She is constantly looking for ways to help new speakers get their acts together-literally-and to help them create successful speaking businesses. The people she hires to help her are all.”
-Alan Stafford

“Susan is incredibly generous in sharing her knowledge. Her private consultations yield great results. She also creates powerful events with wonderful networking opportunities as well as top-flight experts in the speaking industry. Susan has a deep commitment to offering high value at reasonable prices – I highly recommend her and Speaker Services!”
- Moira Shepard

“I would strongly recommend Speaker Services to anyone who is thinking about using speaking in public to enhance their business. Susan is professional, available, knowledgeable, generous and I always had an excellent return on my investment from Speaker Services!”
- Jessica Waters [Duquette]

“Susan is a tenacious networker. This manifests itself both through her exhaustive online as well as offline projects. She really spends all day, every day, keeping her ear to the ground to be aware of opportunities, best business practices and the latest useful tidbits. While this would have the potential to be distracting in another individual, in Susan it creates a comprehensive knowledge of the speaking industry at all levels and from all points of view.”
- Sam Levy, Netman

“Susan Levin is an expert in the field of Speaking and Training and has truly helped me launch my speaking career. In addition, she has connected me with phenomenal speaking opportunities and wants to see all of her clients and business associates succeed. I highly recommend Susan and her company, Speaker Services!”
- Ursula Mentjes, Author, Speaker

“I have taken Susan’s Media Speak, Speaker Summit and Market Yourself as a Speaker workshops. Susan offers AMAZING value and goes above and beyond to make sure that her students are successful. Her speaker listings are excellent. I recommend Susan as a top professional as well as a compassionate and caring person.”
-Carole Hodges, Speaker, Coach

“Susan has a passion and dedication to helping business people demonstrate their expertise through speaking and getting media attention. She knows the best people and is a wonderful resource. She really wants you to succeed.”
- Dr. Jeanette Raymond, Therapist

“Susan has been an invaluable resource for me. Because of Susan, my presentation skills have increased, my confidence as a speaker has increased and she has introduced me to wonderful people who have been tremendously helpful in other ways. This includes media experts, radio and TV hosts, etc. In addition, the video demo on my website was done by her company. If you want to make speaking a career or use speaking as a vehicle to enhance your business, choose Susan Levin as your # 1 resource.”
- Todd Creager, Therapist, Author, Speaker

“Susan is a great coach in professional development. I’ve learned a great deal from Susan Levin and her organization on public speaking presentations, self promotion, and marketing. I highly recommend her for your professional needs.”
- Susan Orosco

Just thought I would let you know that I have been getting hit after hit after hit on a comment I made on a CNN article on Professional Speaking for a living. EVERYBODY wants to know how to get their name out there.  I am letting the folks who contacted me regarding a career in speaking know about your services and the upcoming Speakers Summit. The support I have received from you has TRULY paid off.
- Marja Lee Freeman

Susan Levin is a marketing consultant for speakers and authors.  She is the owner of Speaker Services since 1992.  The online directory Speaker Services brings speakers and audiences together.  She can be reached at susan@speakerservices.com