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

This post is from Daphne Bousquet

http://eventstrategysolutions.com/tag/daphne-bousquet

In the previous post, we talked about what you need in order to be ready for a 6-figure seminar.  But what if you are not there yet?  What if you have no list or a just a small list?  Much of your seminar marketing depends not only on the list you have, but also on the responsiveness of that list.

So you can see that building your community of subscribers and filling your funnel is essential not only to your workshops and seminars, but also to your business in general.

If you have no list at all, the first thing you do is to set up your website so that you can start building one.  You can do this with a few simple tweaks to your existing site. My free eBook, “How To Turn Your Website Into A Lead Generating Machine” goes in further detail on how to do that. Once you have that set up, it is time for you to start building.

Here are the 3 top strategies to build your community with people that are eager to learn from you.

Strategy #1 – Host teleseminars
 The easiest way to start teaching your expertise and getting people interested in your topic in your community is to start teaching teleseminars.  All you need is an opt-in page and a phone.  Many of the bridgelines are free to use and will let you record your teleseminar at no cost as well.

Teleseminars are also a great way to test your topic.  When you have a large number of people sign up for your call, you know you have a good topic that people are interested in.  If you have no response, you may have to reposition your topic, get a better headline or more benefit oriented sales copy.

Strategy #2 – Start Speaking 
The second way to build your list is to get in front of audiences, even if they are not your own.  There are lots of groups that need speakers, so contact local networking groups, associations and other groups that share your ideal audience.  Leverage your relationships with other experts that do have their own events, and get on their stages.

Your audience will now have experienced you and have a pretty good idea of your topic, teaching style and how good your event would be. It is a great opportunity to build a responsive list, or even to fill your own seminar by selling your event from the platform.

Strategy #3 – Attend Events 
 People who go to events are more likely to attend your seminar.  So attend seminars, make connections and build relationships.  You will not only find a good pool of potential attendees, but also potential partners that can promote your (tele) seminar, through affiliate or joint venture relationships.
Some of those people present speaking opportunities that you wouldn’t have had otherwise.  You can also introduce some of your new contacts to your own audience and build a list through interviewing other experts.

Bonus Strategy – Create Online Video
Online video is the wave of the future, if not the “Now” wave.  It is rapidly increasing in popularity with consumers and online marketers.  The reason it is so popular is because the technology is getting more and more accessible and easier to use.  YouTube is the largest search engine behind Google and has a huge amount of viewers every day.

Video is also a great way to establish a personal connection with people when they see you and hear your voice, without actually having to be in front of people.  Your audience can get a sense of your teaching style and they can imagine what a seminar with you would be like.

Although there are many more ways of building your list, these are my favorites because of their effectiveness and potential to create a powerful connection with your audience.  They are also some of the quickest ways to build your list.
So start building your community.  They need you and your message.  Get it out there, so you can help more people and make a big impact with your own workshop or seminar.  Read more

Marketing & Training Services since’92

http://www.speakerservices.com

November 3, 2011

CONTENT:

- Update from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice from experts

- Teleclasses for November

- Tweets & Blog Posts

I have been busy working with clients on speaker marketing and coaching folks on how to Position, Prospect & Land Gigs Now in collaboration with our team member Jean-Noel Bassior. This four step process seems to have hit a nerve as it is a huge issue for folks. We are sharing the strategies for you or your staff to help identify target markets and decision makers. The end result is that you learn how to leave voice message and or e mails that get call-backs. Not only that you get to practice as I prepare leads for you in your target audience.  Want some of that?

I am heading down to Orange County to teach Speak Your Way to More Clients on Monday, 11/7 for the third time with Ursula Mentjes. Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center shared.  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!  There is still time to register

On Wednesday, November 9 in Los Angeles I am speaking with Linda Hollander the Wealthy Bag Lady at Fill Your Purse Event: Get All the Clients and Sponsors You Want join us http://t.co/ah4kHHQj

I just got off the phone with one of my clients who spoke at a Womens Conference recently and received great reviews and several requests to speak at different chapters around the country.  She was thrilled with the invites and even though there was no pay she decided to go.  Unfortunately she had not taken my class Market Yourself as a Speaker and ran into several dicey situations on her travels.  Had she consulted with me she would have had a link on her website for meeting planners for her AV requirements so that the producer of the event would have all of her needs met before she arrived.

She also had booked another gig and it got cancelled which she did not find out until she arrived at her destination.  I said,  No contract agreement with a cancellation clause and a deposit a head of time to hold the date.  Big lessons learned and money spent that did not need to be spent.  She will be at my next workshop in Los Angeles on December 3, Market Yourself as a Speaker. Speaking is a business. You need to be armed with all the collateral find out more.  Not in Los Angeles?  No worries customized telephone coaching is available.

Greg Montana warmed my heart as he shared his accomplishments with me.  Because of www.speakerservices.com and your coaching I’ve shared the stage with Richard Branson, The Dalai Lama, Mark Victor Hansen, Harv Eker and have had some amazing partnerships. Thanks for the boost! Glad to see you are still incubating us speakers!  Congrats Greg.

To your speaking and marketing success,

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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TIPS and ADVICE



DO YOU BELIEVE THAT THIS IS TRUE?  Daphne Bousquet, CMP” daphne@eventsandprofits.com



One of my favorite things to do is busts myths.  And there are a few when it comes to workshops and seminars.  Often times, these myths can stop you in your tracks and prevent you from achieving your potential. Here is one that I hear all the time and perhaps you may even think it is true.

Ready? 

 You need a big event in order to make a lot of money.  
Nothing is farther from the truth. 

While large events have more potential for making more money, that does not mean that small events can not be very lucrative.

Sometimes smaller events do even better. 

When you have a smaller event, chances are you have a highly targeted audience.  Your ideal audience, if you will.
 The people that are at your event are there for a specific reason: to learn from you. Since the event is smaller, you have fewer demands on your time.  

That gives you more opportunities to really connect with your audience.  You can answer more questions and establish genuine relationships with people who will gladly sign up for your high end offer. (You do make an offer, right?)

After all, they know, like and trust you and the value you can bring to them and their businesses.
 
Now that you know you do not need hundreds of people (or even a hundred) in your event room to make a difference and a profit, does that take some of the pressure off?

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7 WAYS TO IMPROVE YOUR MARKETING IN 60 SECONDS OF LESS by Sarah Goliger @hubspot.com

We all know it is not always easy being an inbound marketer especially a good inbound marketer. The things we do to optimize our landing pages, create killer content, keep track of all our analytics they take time! Therefore, to be both a successful inbound marketer, we must be able to use our time efficiently http://www.hubspot.com/social-media-monitoring-in-10-minutes-ebook  to drive the best results in the fastest way possible.

The good news is, even when you do not have a lot of time on your hands, there are lots of little things you can do to dramatically improve your marketing . Here are 7 things you can do in 60 seconds or less to drive more traffic to your site, convert visitors into leads at a higher rate, and increase your ROI.

Tip 1. Respond to a comment, post, or tweet.  A big part of inbound marketing is engaging with your fans, followers, and customers, especially through social media. Take a minute to reply to a tweet or a post on your Facebook page, even if just to say, Thanks for the feedback! or Glad you liked our ebook! Following up with your fans  will show them that you value their comments and will help keep them engaged with your business, making them more likely to convert into leads.

Read more
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Top four book promotion activities you can engage in to sell more books in today’s world 
 @John Kremer


, www.bookmarket.com

1. Speak. Speaking builds a word-of-mouth army better than anything else. Speak locally – at garden clubs, libraries, bookstores, Rotary clubs, JCs, poetry nights, story swaps, book club meetings, etc. Then expand out to a wider area, to nearby cities, to nearby states. Eventually, expand out to an even wider audience.

When someone hears you speak, they become a bigger fan than if they had just read your book. If they like you when they hear you speak, they will tell ten times more people than by just reading your book.

2. Book yourself on national TV. TV is still the largest mass market media. It still reaches more people than any other media – and with more impact. It is worth spending the time contacting the ten or twenty news and talk shows that reach your audience. For most national TV shows, you can get the contact information in one of two ways: 1. from their websites, and 2. via your network of friends and fellow authors.

Your appearance on one major TV show will not only expose you to millions of viewers, but it also opens the door to dozens and sometimes hundreds of other media: newspapers, magazines, radio, more TV shows, etc.

3. Create relationships with high-traffic websites. How many major high-traffic websites that attract your target reader have you created relationships with? Are these real relationships where you contribute content to them on a regular basis?  In today’s world, Internet relationships are the key to marketing success.

Uncover five to ten top websites that already reach the audience you want to reach. Look over their sites until you find a way to contact someone behind the site – a webmaster, an editor, the founder. Then email them with an offer of free content for their readers: an interview with you, a review copy of your book, a free article (that is really good), some tips for their readers, a Q&A column on your specialty, etc. Their obligation, in return, is to link to your website or sales page.

4. Do a Superstar Blog Tour. Or a Mega Blog Tour. Or a Blogpalooza. I’m not talking about the old-style humdrum virtual book tour of 15 or 20 blogs. I’m talking about an event blog tour that creates Internet buzz on a major scale. Event blog tours can build brands, create incredible website traffic, and sell tons of books.

The neat thing is that effective event blog tours take less time to carry out than the traditional Amazon Bestseller Campaign – and are almost always more effective in selling books, building a brand, and driving traffic.

If you want to know more about event blog tours, check out this recording of me speaking about the value and method of carrying out an effective impact blog tour: http://www.bookmarket.com/blog-tour-palooza.htm.

These four book marketing techniques work for almost any kind of book: fiction, nonfiction, memoirs, children’s books, how-to, spiritual, business, even cookbooks. You don’t have to do all four. Start with one and work it hard – you’ll get better results than doing Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, EzineArticles, or other Internet marketing flavors of the week.

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Everyone is always looking for the best deal.  Do I have one for you.

Do you know Speakers Community Membership Club ? Over 100 mp3s 60 days free JOIN NOW http://bit.ly/rUSbGI

UPCOMING TELECLASSES

11/16 -  Organize & Optimize Your Social Media Efforts interview with Kim Beasley
- Have you ever felt overwhelmed while trying to figure out how to use social media to get your message out?

- Do you feel stuck in a rut when it comes to connecting with your target customers on social media?

- Are you trying to figure out how to use Google + to develop your business brand and your personal
identity?
Read/register

11/30/11 -  Amazon Bestsellers with Denise Cassino

Discover an affordable way to launch your e-book to #1 Bestseller on Amazon!

All programs apply to both print books and ebooks!

- The steps and strategies of a bestseller campaign?

- How to reach a large targeted audience without the expense of advertising.

- Why it is a win-win situation for the author, the partners and the book buyer.
- The value of joint ventures

 Read/register

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Tweets and blog posts you might be interested in

:

- Top searches on my blog how to market yourself speakers,  speakers schedule of fees, membership site,  making money as a speaker I can help

- Blog Post 10 Social Media Tips for Professional Speakers.  Use Each Form Of Social Media To Strengthen the Others.  http://bit.ly/sK5HeJ

- 


Professional Marketing Materials see list of services http://t.co/5PkGA894 new coaching program Position, Prospect, Land Gigs. Can we help you?

- 

2011 and 2012 Marketing Trends – Be On The Cutting-Edge, Not The Bleeding-Edge! http://steveslightbulbmoments.com/?p=521  via @StevesMoments

- 

Mary Cimiluca I am so proud of you landing several fantastic and high paying speaking engagements. Happy to have you in my corner and that you followed my advise to ask for more and they said YES!

- Grab Your Audiences Attention Right off the Bat http://t.co/fXCnPrBs The opening statement is important do not blow it.

- 

Prospecting: It is All in the Process @wendyweiss The Queen of Cold Calling™ Tips to ensure maximum results http://bit.ly/tejApu

October 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 Resources

- Teleclasses

- Tweets

My phone rings and a speaker says, I do not understand why I am not getting a call back from the business or association planner when I leave a message.  I ask what was your message?  The discovery is there is no compelling message. Instead of saying I am a speaker and speak about….do you have an opening for me to speak?  How about this? How does this sound? BTW:  This was a pitch in Reporters Connection from a radio producer looking for an expert.  A report featured in Reuters shows, in the past three years unprotected sex among teens is up 39% in America. Fewer teens know about safe sex, what contraceptives are available and how to use the ones they are familiar with.  I am an expert on why the increase and how parents can approach the subject with teens.  We have been getting so many calls like this that my team and I have put together a crash coaching series coaching series that will get you or your speaker booked.  Give me a call if we can help you out.

We are closing the doors for registration for Talk Up Your Business Los Angeles Workshop on Monday, October 10.  The event takes place on 10/17.  If you are planning on attending please register now.

Enjoy the advice and resources and tweets that I have provided for you in this month’s e-zine.

Susan Levin

Speaker Services

310-822-4922 PT

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Featured Speakers

Nicole Roberts Jones Author, Video  Massachusetts, Nationwide
Empowerment coach, trailblazer and visionary shares powerful, asset-based formula that moves you from darkness into a life beyond limits.
Topics: Inspirational, Personal Development, Professional Development, Women’s Empowerment, Work/Life Balance

Terence Dixon S. California
Ultimate Fitness expert shows how to harness the power of Intention and Focus to gain a new body, new faith, and unstoppable self-confidence.
Topics: Christian, Fitness, Health, Personal Development

Grant Garris Author, Video, Atlanta, Georgia & Chicago, Orlando
Adoption and life coach addresses sensitive topics like surviving childhood abuse, sexual identity in corporate America, and adopting a child, with empathy, humor and compassion.
Topics: Abuse, Adoption/Foster, Parenting and Children, Sexuality

Michael Hingson, Author, Video,  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

Brenda Lane-Oliver, Author,  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

Michele the Trainer, Los Angeles
World-class health, fitness and weight-loss expert reveals how to feel younger, more agile, confident and productive, and transform your body into the healthy one you deserve.
Topics: Fitness, Healthy Lifestyle, Time Management, Women’s Health

Lawrence Polsky, Author, Video, 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

See All Speakers and Authors

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TIPS & RESOURCES

Our friend and colleague William Yelles is offering a training on Oct 15 & 16 in LA  called WordPress Website in a Weekend http://wordpressweekend.eventbrite.com/ You’ll learn all the ins and outs of building a great looking site to start making money and reaching customers online  and best of all, it takes just one weekend.
This course is perfect for the small business owner or entrepreneur who does not want to spend thousands of dollars  or weeks, even months, of time  with hiring a developer.  Contact William 310-913-8454 cell
williamyelles@yahoo.com
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What if people could ask you questions while they read your book? That’s the goal of @author, a new feature introduced by Amazon for its Kindle e-books. Readers questions can now be tweeted directly to authors via the @author handle. Tim Ferriss, author of the mega-bestsellers The 4-Hour Body and The 4-Hour Workweek, is one of the first to use the feature. If a trendsetter like Tim is doing this, you probably should consider doing so, too, when the service becomes available to all authors. Read this Business Week  http://t.co/StU8dFKl story for a thorough explanation of @author.
~ Bill Harrison at Reporters Connection
Not already a member? Join now to get our free media leads http://www.ReporterConnection.com/JoinNowFree/
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Make Your Blog Your Home Base, Joan Stewart,  The Publicity Hound

It is darn near impossible to sell something directly from Twitter, or even the snazziest Facebook page.

 But not from your blog. Your blog is the place where you can promote your expertise, explain how to use one of your products, answer readers questions about your services, or go into great depth explaining why visitors should donate to a worthy cause you are promoting. It is also the place where you can convince journalists that you know so much about your topic that they should be using you as a source, and probably even interviewing you for their articles.

You can post photos and videos at your blog, too. After you’ve hooked visitors and convinced them they need your products or services, you can link to a sales page at your website. 

The big mistake on social media sites is that most people skip the blog. They try to take their followers directly from Twitter to a sales page. Spend a few minutes reading all the junk in your Twitter feed and you will see what I mean. 

If you are not blogging yet, it is not too late to start.

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Older People Flocking to Facebook, Other Social Networks
By Josh Wolford – smallbiznewz

Use on the rise for those aged 50 to 64

The Pew Internet Project has just released some findings from a survey it conducted over a one month period that give us a look into the shifting demographics of the world of social media. The main takeaway:  Social media use within the older demographic is on the rise.

That’s right, places like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace are expanding from institutions for the young to institutions for everyone.

Have you noticed a broader demographic when it comes to social media use?  Let us know in the comments.

 The survey asked 2,277 adults (aged 18+) about their social media use.  What they found was that use among folks aged 50 to 64 has jumped to 32% – that is up 60 percent  from last year’s number which was only 20 percent.

  Read the rest of the article.

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WHERE CAN YOU CONNECT WITH SUSAN LEVIN?

10/17   Talk Up Your Business Los Angeles, Master the Message, Master the Marketing Workshop learn more

10-21-23   Maurice DiMinos, Presentations that Sell Bootcamp I will have a vendor table so make sure to say hello if you are there.

10/29  Market Yourself as a Speaker workshop, Susan Levin, learn more

11/7  Speak Your Way to More Clients, Capistrano Beach

11/9   Wealthy Bag Lady, Fill Your Purse Event, Get All the Clients & Sponsors You Want, Linda Hollander & Susan Levin, $35, Learn more

11/12  Mesmerize Your Audience, Jack Barnard, Los Angeles learn more

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Upcoming Teleclasses

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY Membership Club

FREE for Speakers Community Members.  Join now and get  2 months complimentary

October 13,  Get Massive Publicity Fast, Bert Martinez, learn more

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COMPLIMENTARY Teleclass
October 26, Marketing & Promo Materials that Gets you Booked, Jean-Noel Bassior & Susan Levin register

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Tweets of interest

- Learn 2 master yr message, marketing & prospect in LA Talk Up Your Business Workshop 10/17 http://bit.ly/rgjOJJ No hard sell-just the facts http://twitter.com/http://twitter.com/http://twitter.com/

- RT @donnagunter Top 5 Favorite WordPress Themes for Service Business Owners bit.ly/p3Nfpd Incredibly helpful info thanks Donna

- Reading: Seth’s Blog: The forever recession (and the coming revolution http://twitthis.com/at84t8

- Update Speaker Services Your Conference Audience is Dead  http://bit.ly/pje7Mq

- Speaker Services online store of products MP3′s, books, manuals & workbooks. Improve your speaking & marketing skills http://bit.ly/qB5MSB

Leave Voicemail Messages That Have Prospects Begging To Meet You | Market Yourself as a Speaker: http://bit.ly/qC6EzN

- How 2 be a multi thousandaire like me! http://j.mp/qFFZ2X thanks @loiscreamer 4 posting on LI Speaker Services Group. So agree with ya

- Check this video out Mistakes Speakers Make http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-vwIsXLSgo&feature=share via @youtube

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.

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- 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

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

Now that everyone who owns a business seems to be building Facebook Pages (also known as Fan Pages, Like Pages, and Business Pages), the next inevitable dilemma that we face is what to do with those pages once they’re  created and how to drive traffic there.  I’ve seen companies popping up all over with offers of “1000 new Facebook Fans for $xx.”  I’m not sure that type of strategy is reliable or even works.

What I’ve often seen business owners do, and what they’re encouraged to do, are three things:  1.  Ask questions to promote discussion; 2.  Hold contests; and 3.  Offer regular discounts or coupons.  None of those gets my attention as someone who is a “fan” of many Facebook pages, although sometimes I do check out the discounts or coupons.

However, recently I’ve been paying attention to what attracts me to fan pages.  I am juggling many balls during the day, so any strategy to which I pay attention has to have a very high WIIFM (What’s In It For Me) factor to lure me away from the million other things I have to do.

Here are 5 unique ways I’ve seen others use to drive traffic to their Facebook pages:

1.  Promotion Day:  Consultant Biana Babinsky runs a monthly promotion day where she invites her list and followers to post info about their business and their Facebook page on her business page’s wall.  It’s a great strategy — business owners love the opportunity to talk about themselves, and they get a little free promotion in the process.

2. Brag About Your Blog. Blogging expert Denise Wakeman invites her followers to brag about their blogs once a month on her business page. She is getting amazing results with this strategy, recently reporting over 300 shares when she wrote a follow up post about this strategy.  She encourages business owners to come up with a clever hook that is all about them.

3.  Speed Coaching.  Internet marketing expert Ryan Lee recently let his followers know that he was on a plane to an event and would do speed coaching for them from his Facebook page. A number of people (me included) took him up on his offer, and we got our questions answered while he enjoyed his flight.

4.  Virtual event checkins:  I was on a teleclass recently with Online Business Coach George Kao, and he encouraged us to introduce ourselves and our businesses and interact with each other on his host’s (James Roche) Facebook page.  It was a pretty cool experience, as I connected with some new folks and, in one case, with a current newsletter subscriber.

5.  Host a Q&A day: I’ve watched Social Media Examiner do this every Friday, when they invite an expert on social marketing to be their guest and answer fan questions on their Facebook page.

Take Action Strategy

Don’t take the usual, boring route to engage your Facebook page fans.  Take some time to think about what would really engage them, and implement that on a regular basis. Watch your fanbase grow, as well as your expertise and credibility.

Introvert Marketing Coach Donna Gunter helps professional service businesses stop the client chase and create online businesses that drive clients to them. Want to learn specific Internet marketing strategies that get results for introverts? Discover how to increase your online visibility in this free ecourse, Introvert Marketing Toolkit: 9 Strategies to Make a BOLD Impression Online, at ==> http://www.IntrovertMarketingToolkit.com

by Donna Gunter

I actually have several installation checklists set up, depending on the nature of the site.  I divide my sites into the following categories:

• Product (to promote and deliver an information product)
• Affiliate marketing (to promote an affiliate product)
• Membership
• Blog
• Web site/ Blog site

After determining the use of the site, I then determine if I will need a squeeze page, and if so, whether it should be placed as the home page of the site or as an internal page.  My installation checklist may vary slightly, depending on what type of site I’m creating.  The primary differences are in the plugins that I install, as all sites don’t need all the normal plugins.

Here’s my 15-point WordPress installation checklist:

1.  Nameservers.  Change the nameservers of your domain name at your domain registrar to those of your hosting account.

2.  Add domain.  If you have a hosting account which hosts unlimited domains, you’ll need to add your domain to your account.

3.  Install WordPress on domain.  Many hosting accounts now offer a 1-click WordPress install using Simplescripts on cPanel.  All this requires is for you to choose the domain on which to install WordPress, and the script program does the rest. Be sure and pick the most stable (no beta editions) of WordPress.

4.  Add new user.  I recommend that you create at least one other administrative user on your account and delete the Admin user.  After you create the new administrative user, log out and log back in again to ensure that your new login information is accurate.  Once you have confirmed this, delete the orginial admin account and record your new login credentials.

5.  Install your theme.  I’ve worked with a number of themes in the past few months, and I have my favorites. Install and activate your theme.

6.  Install and activate any stand-alone paid plugins.  I have found that it pays to install stand-alone plugins after your install the theme because if you do it in reverse, one or the other won’t show up in the dashboard.  I don’t always need these, but I may install them depending on the type of site I am creating.

• MemberChamp
• Easy Redirect Script
• WordPress Manual

7.  Update your Settings.  Under Settings -> General, change your site title to your blog name, which should contain your primary keywords.  In Site Description, include a short description also containing your keyword.  Make sure your email address is in the Email field, and change the TimeZone to your timezone.

8.  Update your permalinks. Under Settings —> Permalinks, change the permalinks to Custom Structure by entering either  /%category%/%postname%/ or /%postname%/

9.  Set your Discussion parameters. Under Settings —> Discussion, change it so an adminstrator must always approve a comment and that it will always email me. Do not allow pingbacks & trackbacks for discussion posts.

10.  Update your Reading settings. Under Settings —> Reading, determine if posts or a static page will be your home page, and if your home page is a static page, what page will contain blog posts.  Also pick how many blog posts to show on a page, and whether you want to show the full post or a summary.

11.  Update your Categories.  Under Posts —> Categories, change the default “Uncategorized” category to your main phrase for the site.

12.  Blogroll. Remove all default Blogroll links from Dashboard.

13.  Delete Hello Dolly plugin.  I’m not sure why this plugin exists, as it drives me nuts, so I delete it from the list immediately.

14.  Select and activate free plugins.  I’ve written before about lists of plugins I use for WordPress.  Rather than writing about them individually, I’m going to list the ones I commonly use by category.  This list will change depending on the use I have determined for the site.

Comments/Discussion

• Askimet
• Disqus Comment System

Social Networking

• Facebook Social Plugins
• SexyBookmarks
• TweetMeme Retweet Button
• ShareThis

Blog Management

• Exclude Pages from Navigation
• Admin Favicon
• cbnet Ping Optimizer
• My Page Order
• Widget Context
• Robots Meta
• Easy Privacy Policy
• Google XML Sitemaps with Multisite Support
• WP-DB-Backup
• Flexo Archives
• Broken Link Checker
• WP-Sticky
• WP Super Cache
• WordPress Related Posts
• TinyMCE Advanced

SEO

• SEO Ultimate
• All in One SEO Pack
• SEO Friendly Images
• SEO Smart Links

Audio and Video

• Smart Youtube

Tracking and Measurement

• FeedStats
• WordPress.com Stats
• WP-Stats-Dashboard
• Ultimate Google Analytics
• Google Analyticator

15.  Insert your content.  Now that you have completed the setup stage, you will begin to create your pages and your posts.

Take Action Strategy

Create an installation checklist for each type of site that you create so that you or your team can easily install your new WordPress site and get it up and running.  This will make your life so much easier!

Introvert Marketing Coach Donna Gunter helps professional service businesses stop the client chase and create online businesses that drive clients to them. Want to learn specific Internet marketing strategies that get results for introverts? Discover how to increase your online visibility in this free ecourse, Introvert Marketing Toolkit: 9 Strategies to Make a BOLD Impression Online, at ==> http://www.IntrovertMarketingToolkit.com

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

_________

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

______

REGISTER FOR 1 DAY WORKSHOP IN LA 4/16

http://t.co/e2Zjti6 _

________

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

How to Build Relationships through Communities

See video

Tips for both online and offline communities

Susan says…. I really like this post because Abby shares… To get the greatest benefit from both online and offline communities, businesses have to get involved. While it takes time and effort, this activity produces visibility. By initiating activities such as monthly tweetups, committees, and campaigns, businesses have the ability to begin relationships that could potentially lead to new audiences.

Unless you’re a really lucky person, you’ve probably come to the realization that relationships are vital to your business. Relationships are connections that can introduce you to new circles of connections and so on and so forth. This process, in many cases, allows for the opportunities that enable businesses to grow.

One great place for building relationships is in communities, as pointed out in the above video. Both online and offline communities are important in this because they each can introduce you to a different type of connection. Being involved in an online community allows businesses to connect with colleagues from all over the world and interact about their industries and other areas of similar interest.

Offline communities, on the other hand, do not, typically, contain contacts within the same industry. While it is beneficial if there are others within your industry, it’s not necessary. Offline communities consist of PTA boards, the Chambers of Commerce, political affiliations, churches, and more. These communities are more geared toward finding potential partners that can compliment your own business.

To get the greatest benefit from both online and offline communities, businesses have to get involved. While it takes time and effort, this activity produces visibility. By initiating activities such as monthly tweetups, committees, and campaigns, businesses have the ability to begin relationships that could potentially lead to new audiences.

Another factor that businesses need to possess in these communities is the desire to help people. So many people today think that they can take without giving anything in return. However, this way of thinking simply does not work when trying to build strong, lasting relationships. Now, you shouldn’t give so much that the aforementioned people take advantage of you, but you should expect to give a little.

Online, businesses can do this by offering tips or information. Offline, businesses can do this by volunteering their time and services at another business’s event. By offering this help, businesses start to gain trust for each other, which is the basis of a strong relationship.

A third element that a business needs to act on as it tries to build relationships is to keep a contact list up-to-date. Every couple of months, a business should send an email or make a phone call to find out if the contact information it has is still correct. A business cannot build relationships with people that have moved on to other ventures, or that are irrelevant.

Once the list is updated, a business should suggest going to lunch or dinner with the people that it would like to work with moving forward. These settings allow for more communication, which is also a vital aspect of a relationship.

By implementing these practices in offline and online communities, businesses should see strong relationships starting to shape. Just think, these relationships could be just the beginning of a great partnership, opportunity, and so much more.

About the Author:
Abby Johnson is a Video Reporter/Anchor for SmallBusinessNewz.

by Niel Robertson @MarketingProfs
Published on March 1, 2011

In this article, you’ll learn…

* Why Facebook and YouTube will figure prominently in SMB marketing in 2011
* Whether Group Couponing and location-based services will work for SMBs
* Why SMBs will rely on crowdsourcing for marketing- and advertising-related tasks

2011 will be known as the year the online advertising industry turned its attention to small and midsize businesses (SMBs). The average SMB, however, will become overwhelmed by the number of new online marketing and advertising tools available this year. The hardest choice for them will be what to focus on and what to ignore.

Small businesses have different types of customers, so every advertising medium is not a guarantee of success for each customer type.

Following is a list of trends that will create the biggest opportunity, and confusion, for SMBs in 2011.

1. Online presence moves to Facebook

I recently saw a print ad with a Facebook address, but without a traditional website URL. Times are changing.

For SMBs, websites are still too complicated to build and update. Just as blogging sites made it easy to publish content online, Facebook is making it easy for small businesses to put their business online. As social commerce takes off, having a Facebook presence will be invaluable.

2011 will be the first year we see successful new businesses with no websites, just Facebook pages.

2. The dawn of the SMB agency arrives

SMBs can’t do it all; they need to focus their efforts on their core business. Online marketing is growing in complexity, which creates new opportunity for SMBs but also makes marketing more daunting.

Intermediaries that target SMBs will sprout up to help reduce that complexity. Though many intermediaries will be startups, some will be large media players that already have relationships with SMBs.

I predict that new, large-scale agencies will be formed directly to help SMBs. They will use a model more akin to that of Charles Schwab (with physical, local offices) than a traditional Madison Avenue firm’s.

3. SMBs take location-based services seriously, but few will advertise

Foursquare and other location-based services (LBS) are upping their game constantly with business-side features. For example, Foursquare allows SMBs to claim and manage their business page, Yelp focuses on the same, and Google Places reaches out to SMBs with a sales force and incentives.

SMBs need to take ownership of their business pages on such platforms and understand how to use them. Other than paying for access to control their profiles, few will advertise through LBS providers—for now.

4. SMBs finally look at the numbers

For too long, many SMBs have spent advertising and marketing dollars with no real measurement, metrics, or targets in place. Small business owners will finally knuckle down and do the math to answer these questions:

* What cost is acceptable for acquiring a customer?
* What is the lifetime value of that customer?
* What advertising mechanisms are producing results in line with these requirements?

5. Many will try coupon sites and fail

SMB owners are excited about group coupon sites. Many will try them— unsuccessfully—for the first time this year (especially as group-coupon platforms become self-service).

Coupon customers will be overloaded with an increase in offers and coupon players, and they will start to ignore offers other than those of brands they already buy from.

Couponing will be transformed from a way to acquire new customers to a way to drive repeat business.

6. SMBs will focus on video, YouTube especially

Consumers are increasingly flooded by blog content, news articles, and reviews. Humans simply can’t consume that much text. Consumer preference will therefore shift toward video as the primary way to learn about products and services.

Producing videos of high-enough quality for a website is only as hard as getting a Flip camera and some video editing software. Video will emerge as a requirement for SMBs, especially when they discover YouTube Promoted Videos, where the cost-per-click is one-tenth that of paid search.

I predict that YouTube will release a scaled-down version of its “branded channel,” which is now priced too high for SMBs. SMB channels will allow SMBs to store videos, provide product and service materials inside the YouTube interface, and highlight links to their websites.

YouTube will try to do battle with Facebook to become the new “home” for SMBs.

7. SMBs will be the biggest consumers of crowdsourcing

SMBs will rely on crowdsourcing marketplaces to perform more advertising- and marketing-related tasks, such as paid search, logo and ad-creative development, display advertising, social media, or content production.

Pay-by-the unit or pay-for-performance crowdsourcing options will become attractive to SMBs looking for quality help without large upfront costs.

Trying a little of everything and not enough of a few things will leave many SMBs questioning the value of online advertising. The smart SMBs will pick a small set of trials (within online advertising) to gather enough data to understand what works for their company, and choose based on that data.

Niel Robertson is the CEO and founder of Trada, the world’s first crowdsourced PPC marketplace. He is also a founding member of the Crowdsortium, an organization for crowdsourcing companies and organizations. Find Niel at Trada.com/blog and @nielr1 on Twitter.

Posted by Michael Redbord @hubspot.com

If you don’t have any compelling offers on your site today, you’re ignoring a huge opportunity to grow the size of your email list. This is true whether you’re an ecommerce site or a B2B company – offers are one of the most effective ways to harvest email addresses and leads from your site traffic. Keep reading for enticing offers that deliver real value for your visitors and help grow your email reach when the offer is placed behind a landing page. You’ll want to note that your boring quarterly newsletter is NOT featured below

Below are 21 ideas for offers that can help dramatically increase the size of your email list and lead conversion volume.

Educational / Informational Offers

These types of offers tend to be a sweet spot for B2B businesses, because B2B sales tend to be highly considered purchases. However, educational offers can also be useful for high-ticket B2C or enthusiast markets like fly fishing, racing, or technology. In other words, if your consumers think before they buy, you should think about these types of offers.

1. eBooks – “Download our comprehensive guide to inbound marketing and ecommerce”
2. Whitepapers – “Understand how to nurture your email list”
3. Buyer’s Guides – “Which LED underbody kit is right for you?”
4. Fact Sheets – “10 facts you need to know before purchasing a used car”
5. Checklists – “The 5 key steps to preparing your IT department for the iPhone 4”

Free Stuff Offers

Everyone loves free stuff. If you sell products on your site, have excess books in a dusty office storeroom, or can purchase a new iPad to give away, “Free Stuff” offers can provide a time-efficient way to harvest emails from your site visitors. Remember the key with these offers: “many will enter, but few will win”.

1. Contests – “Send us your cutest dog picture; cutest picture wins free doggy day care!”
2. Sweepstakes – “Enter for a chance to win a free copy of the book!”
3. Giveaways – “Register for your free welcome gift of a free keychain!”
4. Quizzes –“Who was Warren G. Harding’s dog? Let us know and two lucky history buffs gets a free dog bowl!”
5. Surveys – “Take our survey and get $10 off your first order!”

Coupons and Deals

Like with the free stuff offers above, everyone likes to feel as though they are getting a good deal. Small incentives can create a large impression of value in your potential customers. Some of the below are more applicable to growing an email list for an ecommerce site, but could apply to consulting, software, or any sort of business with a touch of marketing creativity:

1. Coupons for dollars or percentage off – “Sign up for future offers and savings to receive 10% off your next order today!”
2. Free shipping – “Create an account today and get free 2-day shipping through March 1st!”
3. Time-sensitive discounts – “Save 20% on flower arrangements through February 14th – order soon, roses are going fast this year!”
4. Bundled deals – “Fill out the form to get a free iPad if you sign up for our service in the next 2 weeks!”

Events

Events can create huge engagement from your interested prospects and customers. Because events require your prospects to physically show up at a certain place at a certain time – even if that “place” is online – event registrations indicate serious fans of your brand, products, and services. Think creatively about what constitutes an “event” for you: consider sponsoring charity events, conducting in-house mini-events, and use your site to collect registrations with names, emails, and other pertinent information.

1. Webinars – “Power-user tips and tricks for eCommerce Inbound Marketing”
2. Off-site events – “Meet us at the museum of modern art for a charity event on Tuesday”
3. On-site / in-store events – “Come in every Friday for free drinks, snacks, and hubspot.tv!”

Programming Required

If you have the resources in-house or can work with a creative, marketing-oriented programmer who you can trust, the sky is the limit on your ability to haul in email addresses from your content. Mini-games, compelling tools (see HubSpot’s suite of free Grader tools), and value-added product configurators are excellent programmatic offers. Consider what would be most appealing to you customer and prospect base, too, before investing:

1. Calculators – “Calculate your retirement savings and plan for a bright future”
2. Product configurators – “Configure your custom-made wallet today, and send to a friend for review!”
3. Your own “Grader” app – “Learn your home’s energy efficiency grade before you install new windows!”
4. ??? – Wildly creative, value-delivering apps you dream up!

Use These Ideas to Start Getting More from your Site Traffic

Spin up a few new landing pages on your site and start experimenting. You will quickly find which have the best traction among your traffic and customer base if you keep an eye on your offer’s performance metrics. Encourage your new email signups to share your offers on social media, email the offer to a friend, and get the word out to exponentially increase your offer’s reach.

Which offers do you love for growing your leads and email list? Tell us about them, and let us know what we missed!

Using Your Kindle Book To Gain Market Reach
by Kathleen Gage, StreetSmarts Marketing

Looking for a new way to get in front of potential book buyers? Try your hand at publishing a Kindle book. It’s one of the easiest ways to get your material published…fast!

I couldn’t believe how simple the process was from the very first attempt. What’s great is you don’t need an ISBN to publish your Kindle version book. You can publish just about anything including:

•    eBooks
•    Reports
•    Articles
•    Blogs
•    Books
•    Transcripts

The fact is, if you can write it you can publish in Kindle.

There are a few reasons you would publish in Kindle. One, to be published. Two, to make money. Three, to build market reach and credibility. Four, to build your opt in list.

If you’ve been dreaming of being a published author and are not yet there, Kindle is a great first step. There is virtually nothing easier. You don’t have to publish a full length book. Nope. You can publish information you have on your computer. It’s really that simple. So no more excuses.

Although you can make money with Kindle you likely won’t get rich. If getting rich is your main motivator you may want to rethink why you are publishing with Kindle. However,  Kindle books can lead to other, more lucrative opportunities.

One of the best reasons to publish a Kindle book is for market reach and credibility. Yet, you can’t simply get your Kindle book up and expect sales to flood in. Any author who wants to get the most traction for your published works needs to be very proactive with marketing and promotions. There’s no way around this.

The more you market the more visibility you get. The more visibility the more sales. The more sales the more likely readers are to visit your blog and/or website. When you optimize your sites you are prepared for visitors with an opt-in opportunity.

Ignore setting your site up so visitors can opt-in for something and you miss lots of great opportunities. Make sure your site is ready for the traffic you generate.

As you can see Kindle books serve many purposes, the most important of which is to create high quality information for your readers. Create high quality information and you set yourself up for greater success.

Check out my  newest Kindle Book -
The fast and easy way to build your opt-in subscriber with Mini-Courses [Kindle Edition] Click Here

5 Ways to Use LinkedIn Groups to Build Influential Connections

By Stephanie Sammons via Social Media Examiner

If you want to build truly influential relationships online, you have to find places where you can consistently add value, spend quality time and have engaging conversations with members of your target demographic.

LinkedIn Groups offers one of the best ways to make the most of your social media engagement time, but you must adopt the right strategy to be successful. This article will show you how.

LinkedIn allows you to join up to 50 groups, but you can’t possibly be effective and spend enough time to make a difference in 50 groups.

What works best is to focus your time and effort on a deep and narrow approach in order to build influence within LinkedIn Groups, enhance your credibility and generate new connections.

Read more

10 Deadly Marketing Mistakes for Speakers

1. Mistake: You have not yet articulated what you do for your target market in one to two simple sentences.
Remedy: Be ready at a moment’s notice to succinctly introduce yourself and your expertise in no more than two sentences.  You’re building your relevant marketing message.

2. Mistake: You refuse to identify one target market and therefore, postpone marketing activities because you haven’t yet thought through what value you have to any one group.
Remedy: Identify your ideal client.  What are their characteristics, what keeps them up at night and where do they gather in large numbers?

3. Mistake: You are not committed to certain hours in the day for marketing your expertise to grow your speaking business.
Remedy: Systematize the booking process so that you will be able to automate your marketing activities that will build your business.

4. Mistake: You have not yet created an on-line opt-in strategy that speaks to the needs of your target market.
Remedy: Create tips, short articles and relevant solutions to their challenges that you can distribute at least once a week.

5. Mistake: You don’t inspect what you expect.
Remedy: If you spend three hours reaching out to prospects in your target market introducing your expertise, follow up with them routinely and send notices of products or services relevant to their needs.

6. Mistake: You fail to continually seek and post to your website third party endorsements.
Remedy: Ask for endorsements following events. Make endorsement request on your evaluation form.  Draft ideas about what you would like to hear your past clients say about you. They may request your assistance on that.

7. Mistake: You rely on your circles of influence to deliver referrals which rarely come in.
Remedy: Become pro-active by contacting those who have hired you.  These days, you generally have to ASK to GET.

8. Mistake: You don’t ask your target market what they want to know and need to know. You may be guilty of thinking you know what they need.
Remedy: Consider doing an ASK campaign to your ideal audiences to find out the top 5 challenges with which they struggle.  Use this market intelligence to insure that you hit the bull’s eye.

9. Mistake: You don’t do the research about an organization before you contact them. No meeting professional wants to tell you the facts about a meeting that repeats what has already been stated on their website.
Remedy: Demonstrate your respect for their time by being informed before you contact them.

10. Mistake: Not creating a website that speaks directly to your target market’s needs. You expect meeting professionals to read through pages of features about you that are irrelevant to their needs.
Remedy: Create a website that’s about the client’s needs rather than all about you.  Articulate the relevant facts about your background that are pertinent to the organization.  Most are interested more in what you can do for them rather than what you have accomplished in your life.

Mary McKay is a speaker marketing specialist for emerging and under-booked professional speakers who want to secure more paid speaking engagements.  With her Turnkey Speaker Booking System, she systematizes the booking process to uniquely position the speaker, optimize the appearance, generate referrals and enable more revenue potential through product sales. www.turnkeyspeaker.com

by Sue Papadoulis via SuccessfulAuthorSecrets.com or LoveYourLifePublishing.com.

Using public relations (PR) is the fastest, easiest and least expensive way to build your brand, increase your customer base, explode your sales and give you expert status. Don’t overlook going after fr^ee publicity in the media – it is far more extensive and influential than a paid for advertisement. As an author, you’re already an expert in your field – now it’s just a case of making sure the media see you in the same light so you can sell more books.

Here’s my 10-step plan to writing a great press release that will get noticed.

Get the layout right. You need:

The date and city of issue
A headline in larger, bold font
An opening sentence in bold
Text that supports your headline and opening sentence
Your contact details

Create a great headline. Just as in a newspaper article, the headline must sum up the press release contents in a concise manner. See if you can mirror what you see in newspapers and magazines. Keep it to one short sentence and remove unnecessary words.

Write a snappy opening sentence. Your opening sentence can be just as important as the headline in attracting interest from a journalist who may scan this alone and determine whether or not the entire story is of interest. Remember, these words are also indexed by search engines, so if you’re loading your release onto any online distribution sites add some key words (but not to the detriment of the quality of the content).’

Support your headline and opener with quality text. The remaining text supports your story and must answer the questions of who, what, when, where, how and why. Write the text in the format used by your target media outlet. For example if you’re targeting a local paper, write it as a newspaper article – the sure sign of a great media release is when you read it word for word in the paper.

Use quotations. Quote yourself high up in the release – in the second or third sentence. Keep quotes short, sharp and newsworthy (often referred to by the media as a ‘grab’ which summarizes the main point of the story). Add them as a single sentence at a time, rather than as a paragraph of text. A single sentence is easier to read and scan.

Include an expert if possible. If you can find a third party to support your position it will give you and your release instant credibility and move it away from being a promotional piece into the realm of serious news story. This could be a happy customer who’s willing to be quoted or a representative of an industry association. You could even quote a third party who’s already publically spoken about your issue. As long as it’s in the public domain and you correctly attribute the quote, you are able to include it.

Provide full contact details. Include your name, landline, mobile phone number, email address and web address.

Keep it to one page. More than one and a half pages and a journalist just won’t read it. If you’re struggling to include everything, then make a plan to come up with six angles over six months. Over that period of time you can include all the information you need to about your business. By staying in touch regularly, you’re also building a relationship with a journalist which can be a key factor in generating free publicity.

Offer images and make yourself available for an interview. Often, a journalist will want to do an interview rather than lifting quotes directly from a media release. A media outlet may be happy to use your images, or they may want to take photographs themselves, so make yourself available.

Send it out! Develop a list of targeted media outlets, and don’t overlook online PR release sites such as www.free-press-release.com and www.prweb.com.

© 2010 Sue Papadoulis
Sue Papadoulis is a leading specialist in helping small businesses generate free publicity. She is the founder of the DIY PR Kit which provides step-by-step advice and templates to show you how to score free media coverage on TV, radio, newspapers, magazines and online. Access Sue’s special video (valued at $279), How to Generate Free Publicity for Your Business, free at www.diyprkit.com.

Selling out your event depends on the three “T”s of marketing your workshop. The first “T” is the “Timing” of your marketing campaign. The next “T” to get the butts in the seats of your workshop is all about the tools you need. After all, you have to have a mechanism in place to sell your tickets or take your registrations.

Now what promotional tools will you need? The most important is a website to sign people up. I recommend having a full-fledged website, with its own domain name and a sales page that shares the benefits of attending with your prospects. Although you may not like long sales pages, a well written sales page is essential to converting visitors into attendees.

Even if your workshop is free, your still need a sales or information page that lists the benefits of attending and overcomes the most common objections. Your guests still make an investment of time and will need to know the benefits of investing that time. After all, everyone is busy

If you don’t have a website with a shopping cart or PayPal, you can still take online registrations and actually sell tickets through sites like Eventbrite.com, SuretoMeet.com or RegOnline.com. All three sites will process your sales for a small fee and allow you to follow up with your attendees. The beauty of this is that it does not require any upfront investment and you do not have to pay for web hosting once your event is finished.

Following up with your attendees is essential to them showing up and having a good experience. Thank them for signing up, remind them of the times, list the benefits again for them and send them a map and direction to the venue. When you have your own sales page, you can automate this process through autoresponders. The third party registration sites allow you to follow up as well, but not with as many features and as automated as your own autoresponder will let you.

My recommended tools are a website, (preferably your own), a shopping cart or PayPal and an autoresponder. What are your tools of choice?
Be sure to check out his article about the final “T” of your workshop and event marketing, the all important Traffic.

Daphne Bousquet, CMP uses her 20+ years of event planning experience to create profitable event strategies and implementation to coaches, entrepreneurs, speakers and self employed professionals that want to grow their business with workshops and seminars. Go to eventstrategysolutions.com for more tips and information on attracting clients and profits with your own live event.

Listen to the teleclass interview with Daphne Bousquet

Article Source

Susan’s note:

I included this post from RainToday.com as it applies to speakers, consultants and business folks.  I have been testing out this system as well when meeting with potential clients who are interested in speaking and marketing training.  It is all about connecting and relationships and by having a meeting with your team and the client makes a huge difference in them buying your services.  They feel very nurtured and trusting of your team effort and feel that you have their best interest at hand.  Interested to know about how I bundle Speaker Services services  Give me a call and let’s see what how we can assist you.  310-822-4922 PT.

Take it away Anne

A Perspective from Architecture & Engineering

By Anne Scarlett

Throughout the lead development process, business development professionals work very hard. You make contacts, nurture relationships, submit RFPs, all before you finally get a chance to interview with prospects.

By the time you get to that interview, you realize that all of the firms are fully qualified—especially in terms of project portfolios and proven performance track records. So what’s in question? Quite simply it’s the personalities and the “wow” factor. When considering how to showcase synergies and group dynamics, what’s better than giving your prospects an opportunity to truly “experience” working with you and your team?

Creating an interview “experience” is possible, even within the limited timeframe of a formal client interview. Think about it. As a service provider, your firm often facilitates sessions around project strategy, programming, and design charrettes. Why not dedicate a portion—or even all—of the interview to facilitate a dialogue? In other words, why not make your presentation truly interactive, rather than just saying it will be interactive?

Turn Prospects into Clients Deliver the Perfect Pitch: 9 Rules for Winning Clients 5 Ways to Win Business and Influence Decision Makers How to Make a Prospect Love You

Here’s how it’s done. (I’ve used this format myself, so I know it works.)

1. Prepare and submit an agenda in advance. Share your intentions to incorporate facilitation as part—or even all—of the presentation.
2. If the client requests specific points to be covered by each team, include those points within your agenda. Just make sure you allocate plenty of time for facilitation as well.
3. Prepare your firm’s top three messages that you want to emphasize to the client. Think: “If the client remembers nothing else from this interview, I hope they will remember this…”
4. Work out some potential talking points that you may want to cover during the facilitation, depending upon the direction it takes. Practice drafting out (in a simple format) your team’s process and/or diagrams to illustrate a point. You can always bring mini-sketches of these diagrams to refer to if you need to draw them in real time.
5. During your rehearsal, have someone serve in the prospects’ role while your team guides them through the interview. Preselect the facilitators and the scribes. Make it smooth and organized, yet be flexible and open to spontaneous shifts during the actual interview.
6. Make sure you have flip charts with a sticky back and multicolored markers. Bring at least one easel.

Sample Agenda

• Brief introduction of firm, team, and client. (Casual and quick).
• Brief summarization of your understanding of their project goals. (List these in real time. Ask if there are any additions or changes.)
• Identification of top three to five client challenges/issues for project. (This part is facilitated by you. It will require your ability to help guide the client through their priorities and get them talking immediately. In addition to stating the top three to five challenges, you may have to group items into buckets and/or create a parking lot. Document these on flip charts).
• Reflection by your team of how you would propose to tackle the identified challenges. Use relevant, real stories to support your proposed approach. Whenever it makes sense, tie their challenges back into the key messages that you mentioned during the introduction. Perhaps it will also include a representation of your process by drawing it out in a simple form.
• Presentation of initial design schemes, if required.
• Wrap up: Inquire if there are additional questions. And finally, repeat the top three messages that your firm wants to leave them with (the ones you started with at the beginning).

Reasons to Use This Format

• Your team shows off its ability to glean information from a client group and organize that information into something solid and real.
• Teammates demonstrate how they work with one another. Team dynamics can be quite telling.
• Your team exemplifies tremendous listening skills, making the prospect feel both heard and respected.
• Your prospect speaks out, so the overall experience will be fun and interesting. Don’t worry that those speaking aren’t decision makers. Those who have a less important voice will most certainly defer to those who have final say on projects.
• The overall experience is kinesthetic and engaging. It will be memorable and unique, and it will greatly differentiate your firm.

Reasons to Not Use This Format

• Your team is risk-averse and doesn’t like the idea of simply using talking points rather than a prepared presentation.
• Your team is unable to think on its feet, especially if the client throws a surprise curve ball.
• Your prospect is not willing to be led through an active dialogue—they simply want to “be pitched.” This needs to be determined as early in the process as possible, which is why you need to share your agenda/intentions in advance.
• Your prospect includes decision makers who will not be involved in the actual project. These people don’t care about the experience of working with your team.

If you have team members ready to show off their talents as professional design consultants—quite literally—then this is a great interview format to consider.

Anne Scarlett, President of Scarlett Consulting, provides marketing advisory services to the architecture/engineering/construction industry. She is a frequent public speaker and contributing author to multiple industry publications, including PSMJ’s AE Rainmaker. What’s the Scarlett Consulting difference? Clients receive hands-on attention. Find out more by calling 773-251-8132 or visiting www.annescarlett.com.

Post by Lisa Sasevich

Susan Note: View Video below on my thoughts on Introductions

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.

B. Include accolades and a personal touch. Then they should list several of your most impressive achievements: the TV appearances, the books, awards, the years you’ve been at your craft or how many people you’ve helped. Also include something personal that sounds impressive. For instance, you have two children at home and you put your husband through graduate school while launching your business from the basement.

C. Tell the audience what they’re going to get. This is where you include your statements of the transformations that your clients get as a result of working with you. For instance, “Today, Susan’s going to teach you how you can lose 10 pounds in 30 days and cut your insulin dependence in half.” Or, “Judy’s going to show you how you can build a six-figure business working part-time from home.”

Having your host end your introduction with the transformation that the audience will get generates excitement. And then you get up there confident and welcomed because they are excited to hear what you have to say, and you’re excited to share it with them!

Bonus Tip 1: Always Bring a Copy of your Host Introduction with You
You can write a fantastic introduction, but if the busy host misplaces it the day of the event and gets up there and wings it, all your effort was in vain. Always bring an extra copy with you. Make sure it’s in large print, easy to read, and before you go on, ask the emcee if he or she has your introduction. If not, you can just hand it over. (This will seriously separate you from the speaker pack and have hosts take notice.)

Bonus Tip 2: Adjust Your Opening Remarks as Necessary
If the emcee botches your intro (it happens!), think fast, because you need to convey the credibility that was supposed to have been established during your introduction. You could do this by mentioning that your business broke the six or seven-figure mark or that you never thought when you started that you’d have more than 200 people in your mentorship program.

If, on the other hand, your emcee does a stellar job of establishing your credibility, then you have the wonderful opportunity to get up there and emphasize your vulnerability, which, along with continuing to build on your credibility, is the goal of your opening remarks.

This is powerful because when someone whom we expect to be larger than life is instead humble and real, we’re surprised and delighted and we like and trust that person even more. Also, it allows people to relate to you better and realize that if you can do it, they can too. Remember, we buy from people we feel like we know and that we like and trust to deliver. So, even this early on in your presentation, you’re setting the stage for record sales.

What introduction tips and strategies have you found to be effective? Let us know on our blog.

Sales-from-the-podium expert Lisa Sasevich 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.

Susan Levin on Introductions

Post by Vickie Sullivan contributing editor of Rain Today

In these days of free webinars, free speaking, even free projects to “build the relationship,” buyers have plenty of opportunities to discover your value. They take that content and either 1) file you under “not a good fit” and move on, 2) keep in touch to pick up more free stuff, or 3) pick up the phone and call you with their latest challenge.

How do they decide who is a “go-to” person and who has nice ideas but aren’t worth paying for? One word: relevance. Let’s explore these three comparisons buyers use to separate the must-haves from the nice-to-haves. Buyers use these filters to decide who is relevant now and who can wait for next year’s budget.

Your Priority

Most of you are pretty good about being clear on what you do. Once buyers know your offer, two questions determine if they need to act now. The first question they ask themselves: will your expertise help them with something they know they need right now? Will you help them get something they already covet? You must be a conduit for something they already want badly.

How to Beat the Competition Changing Your Position to Beat the Competition Tap into Buyers’ Emotions and You’ll Win More Clients Selling Ideas: How Ideas Can Transform Non-Buyers into Clients

Here’s an example: one of my Turbo Charge clients is a best-selling author who wanted to expand his brand into a new area. He wrote another book that publishers wanted so badly that they started a bidding war. Why did the winning publisher fight for that book? Because they wanted to expand into business books and they saw my client’s project as the conduit to make that happen. Yes, they liked the author’s brand, but they also saw what the book could do for the CEO’s top priority. So before writing that article, ask yourself this: what do the decision makers already covet and how can your expertise help them get that?

The second question buyers ask themselves: is solving the problem worth this price point? Here’s where your fee strategy really plays a role. Your investment forces buyers to explore what the solution is worth to them. And they compare your fee with what else they can do with the money. Even in this recovery, there’s a lot of competition for the same pot of dollars.

I’ll use myself as an example. I just heard from a prospective client that she’s weighing two options: working with me or hiring staff. Isn’t that interesting? My competition isn’t other brand consultants—it’s administrative help. In the got-to-have space, your competition is not only other experts; it’s also other priorities. Everyone has more things to do than money to spend. This is why the got-to-have experts position their focus as a conduit for something bigger than themselves.

Your Scarcity

The second thing buyers do to determine whether they must have your services is compare your expertise with theirs. There are two assessments buyers make that can put you into nice-to-have status. First comparison: our insights vs. what they already know. I call this the invisible Vulcan mind meld. Decision makers invest in what they don’t already have. So the question buyers ask themselves is do you know something they don’t?

Must-have experts show the market that they have something not readily available. Many talented, nice-to-have folks focus on the clever title or analogy. Buyers see right through that. They are looking at the insight, the point you are making. The analogy, the story, and the cleverness make your point come alive. If your writing is better than your insights, you are a nice read but not worth reaching out to. If you give a speech and hear, “Hey, nice reminder of what I already knew,” you failed the invisible Vulcan mind meld and are in the nice-to-have category.

After passing that test, buyers make a second comparison: your high-end services vs. information they don’t have but can easily get from you. The second bias—all things being “good enough,” the low-cost or free route will prevail. Notice what I didn’t say: equal. Even if you are better than the free resources you provide, even when prospects have a budget, buyers want to make sure they are getting the best option for their money. So another question they ask is can they get your insights from other free sources such as your book or white papers on your website? Is that “good enough” help for them?

This economy has created a lot of free and low-cost education. And it’s good stuff. A must-have expert provides high-quality content but always leaves the impression that “there’s more where that came from.” My favorite example of this strategy is Steven Levitt, co-author of Freakonomics. His way of thinking appeals to so many situations that folks can’t get enough of him. And yet everyone knows that if they want their situation examined, they have to pay him his fees.

Your Approach

The third thing buyers look for is agreement. Before hiring you, even before talking to you, buyers want to get a sense of your approach and the way you think. The question they ask themselves: do they agree with your world view? They want to know this because they plan to implement your recommendations.

Think about it: we facilitate change, and change is confronting at the very least. Clients are willing to go on that journey with us as long as we don’t throw them under the bus. And that’s what buyers are really afraid of. They want to make sure your solutions won’t create too much brain damage. Your approach is their early-warning system.

And just saying your solutions are easy won’t cut it. Buyers are now in what I call “discovery” mode. They credit you with any discoveries they make about themselves while reading your material or hearing you speak. They believe their opinions about you more than they believe what you say.

No More Spaghetti on the Wall

The days of just getting your insights or story out there and hoping for the best are over. In this noisy marketplace, either you are relevant or you are ignored. When we tap into the three things that buyers look for—priority, comparisons, and agreement in approach—not only will we get attention, but we will get the incoming emails and calls, too. And isn’t that the whole point of getting our message out there?

by Donna Gunter,  OnlineBizU.com

Distributing your articles to various article banks and directories online (what I refer to as article marketing) won’t work for you unless you have a well-developed resource box.  A resource box is the bio information about the author that appears at the end of the article. Why is a great resource box important to the success of your article marketing efforts? Because it is the key element that will drive traffic back to your site, which should be your primary purpose when you engage in article marketing as an Internet marketing strategy.

Rather than trying to sell readers with your article resource box, promote your call to action and give your reader a reason to click on your call to action to go to your web site and learn more.  It’s on your web site where you do the selling, not in your article resource box.

Here are the 7 essential elements that you need to include in your resource box for maximum clickability:
1.  Your name.  Article marketing is all about branding and identity, so don’t forget to identify yourself in your resource box.

2.  Brief bio. Don’t try to convince your reader that you’re the expert here.  If your reader hasn’t figured that out through reading the content of your article, a lengthy bio won’t change things. A short yet effective bio is written in the following style:  (Your name) helps __________ (fill in the blank) to do ___________ (fill in the blank) even though ___________. (fill in the blank)

3.  Call to action. Don’t simply invite the reader to visit your web site in your call to action or just subscribe to your email newsletter or to join your mailing list.  Give the reader a reason to visit by offering your client attraction device, which is a a free resource that the reader receives when he opts into your list.

This free resource might be an ecourse, audio, video, ebook, or special report, all of which serve to continue to educate your reader, thus raising your level of expertise in the eyes of your reader. Furthermore, asking your reader to opt-in to receive your client attraction device permits you to keep in touch with your article readers long after they have read your article.  Your  ultimate goal in capturing their contact info is to convert them to customers.

4. Compelling domain name.  Article marketing and resource boxes work best if you let your domain name do the talking for you.  So, rather than sending someone to JohnSmith.com, for example, send someone to a domain name that portrays an exciting benefit or feature in which the reader might be interested.  You can use your domain registrar’s domain forwarding and and masking features to help you channel your reader to the desired location on your web site.

5.  Keep it short.  Many article directories limit the article resource box to 450 characters (yes, that’s CHARACTERS, not WORDS).  Use your limited real estate wisely to ensure maximum clicks back to your web site.

6.  Accentuate your offer.  To drive home the point that I want someone to click on my call to action, I include  ==> just before the domain name of my offer.

7.  Anchor text.  If you have the option of including HTML coding in your resource box, create a hyperlink to one of your primary keywords/keyword phrases for which you want to create valuable backlinks.  So, for example, if I wanted to increase my findablity on search engines for the term “Internet Marketing Coach,” I’d link that phrase in my resource box to my web site URL

If you use this last tip, keep in mind that most article banks permit no more than 3 hyperlinks in any article.  If you use one on the anchor text and one in your call to action, that leaves you with only one to use in the body of your article.
Remember, it’s the body of your article where you provide valuable info to your reader without any promotions, and it’s your resource box where all the promotion occurs.  A well-crafted resource box can entice readers to click on your offering and drive droves of traffic to your web site.
Note:  For a great example of a resource box, see the end of this article.

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

by Lou Bortone

Twitter + Video = Awesomeness

What happens when you take the power of social media and add the visibility of video?  You make a big impact and exponentially increase your online presence!

Before you object that you’ve barely figured out Twitter, let alone video, let me put you at ease: With a host of new “Twitter-Friendly” video sites, it’s easier than ever to integrate video into your Twitter activities.  Let’s take a look at a few of my faves:

Twiddeo – As the name implies, Twiddeo.com combines Twitter with video.  Just upload your video to Twiddeo, and Twiddeo adds the video’s link to your Tweet and blasts it out to Twitter. 

Tweetube – Tweetube serves basically the same function, but with more bells and whistles.  Not only can you share videos that you posted on YouTube, but you can also share photos, webcam videos an more.  Anything you share via Tweetube gets posted to Twitter.

Twitvid – Yet another free website that allows you to share your video to Twitter.  With Twitvid, you can even share your video to Twitter via your iPhone 3GS or your Blackberry. Twitvid can also autoshare to Facebook, MySpace and YouTube, for one-stop uploading convenience!

TwitCam – TwitCam offers a different take on video sharing.  This web resources allows you to do live webcasting (similar to Ustream.tv), but with handy Twitter integration. Twitcam posts your video description and link to Twitter for all your followers to see. Then, while broadcasting, you can chat with your viewers via Twitter right from your broadcast page. Pretty cool.

TweetReel – If you’re an iPhone 3GS owner, TweetReel is for you!  TweetReel lets you shoot photos or video from your iPhone, upload them to TweetReel, then share them on Twitter.
Try out a few of these free web resources, and you could become a Twitter video superstar before you know it!

About the Author
Lou Bortone is a long-time marketing and branding consultant who helps entrepreneurs build breakthrough brands on the Internet, with services such as online video production, video branding, coaching and creative support.  Lou is a former television executive who worked for E! Entertainment Television and later served as the Senior Vice President of Marketing & Advertising for Fox Family Worldwide, a division of Fox in Los Angeles.  Lou is an author and ghostwriter of six business books, a Certified Guerrilla Marketing Coach and a Book Yourself Solid Certified Coach.  Visit Lou’s website at http://www.OnlineVideoBranding.com and you can learn more about Lou’s Video Traffic Blast system at http://www.VideoTrafficBlast.com

Great post by by Mike Schultz and John Doerr from RainMaker Blog

Susan Note: You can’t build a business without the foundation.  And the foundation is lead generation.

Leads, leads, leads. Once the referrals and the circle of family and friends aren’t enough to keep our firms growing, it’s all about the leads. Yet, when it comes to generating leads, consulting firms get it wrong in 10 very common ways.

1. Spending on marketing activities that don’t produce ROI or are “vanity exercises” (e.g. excessive graphic design and image advertising). Open up your local business journal, and without a doubt you will see an advertisement for a consulting firm trying to “generate awareness.” This organization is “generating awareness” among the 25,000 readers who may (or may not) be targets for its services.

Meanwhile, the funds to create the ad (and to run the ad week after week) can surely be much better spent by reaching out to the smaller, more targeted pool of, say, 1,600 key prospects your firm wants as clients.

For the most part, spending on general awareness ads produces a very low ROI if any.

2. Holding unrealistic expectations about the results various marketing tactics can produce. I recently saw an ad in Harvard Business Review for a major consulting firm touting the nature of the firm as offering “solutions” versus just “services.” Many people saw that ad—and did nothing because they were asked to do nothing.

If, however, the ad had focused on new research in intellectual property protection for technology companies that could be downloaded as a white paper, the ad could have been used to generate leads for the firm.

People will accept an offer—white paper, case study, article, book, research, sales call—from an ad. They will rarely, if ever, pick up the phone and go from ad to becoming a new client.

3. Not implementing any lead generation efforts because of inefficient decision making. I can’t tell you how many times I have met with a consulting firm to talk about lead generation and these companies are hot to trot with their lead generation efforts—they want more leads and they want them now. We have a couple of good meetings; I keep in touch with them and offer value in my own selling through white papers, seminar invitations, articles, and calls. Then, six months go by, a year goes by, three years go by, and they still have done nothing.

All too often in consulting firms there are too many decision makers who can’t get on the same page and decide what to do when it comes to marketing and lead generation. So, they end up doing nothing or even worse running another awareness ad in the business journal.

4. Not being able to sustain implementation over the long-term. As much as you might like to shorten the sales cycle, buying complex, trust-based services takes time. Leads need to be nurtured over the long term so you are top of mind when the elusive time of need arises.

All companies want more leads and want them now. As a result, they plan and implement a lead generation campaign, but they impatiently dig up the roots after two weeks to see if it’s growing yet. (This is not a good way to grow a tree.)

Lead generation efforts must be sustained over months to make them 1) work and 2) improve over time.

5. Relying on one tactic only. In Managing the Professional Services Firm, David Maister lists “first string” marketing tactics, which include small scale seminars, speeches at client industry meetings, and proprietary research. Maister calls direct mail and cold calls “clutching at straws tactics.” By themselves, they are. Very few prospects will go from receiving direct mail, an email, a cold call, or even a first conversation straight to being a client.

But the best way to get people to take advantage of those “first string” offers is a combination of “grasping at straws” tactics.

6. Poor implementation (e.g. poorly written marketing copy and poorly designed or poorly targeted campaigns). Let’s say you decide to run a small-scale seminar (a “first string” marketing tactic). You spend months preparing the content, practicing your delivery, putting together the invitations, and booking the facility. Then, the day comes and two people show up. So, what happens? You give up on seminars and declare, “We tried that, it didn’t work.”

On the contrary, seminars can and do work, you just implemented the marketing of the seminar poorly.

7. Dropping leads and failing to nurture leads. According to a research report by BPM Forum, over 80% of generated leads are never followed up on, are dropped, or are mishandled. Professional services businesses are particularly adept at neglecting the leads that they already have in-house, just waiting to be called.

It’s also been my experience that with proactively generated leads, 25% are short-term leads while 75% are long-term leads. If you’re focused on the short-term, you might be missing out on three-fourths of your opportunities.

8. Not communicating your value in marketing. We often hear from our clients that they want their prospects to perceive that they are credible and distinct, so they end up writing marketing messages that say, “I’m credible and distinct.” Or, “I’m trustworthy.” Or, “I’m innovative, yet solid.”

If you want your clients and prospects to believe you are credible and distinct, you must demonstrate that you are credible and distinct. You can do this by providing value directly in your marketing and selling efforts. When you interact with a prospective client, or send any message to them, that prospect is evaluating what it might be like to work with you. Help them understand that working with you after they become your client is much the same as what it’s like working with you before they become your client.

9. Not integrating various marketing tactics well. Lead generation is a multi-step process. It takes multiple touches to draw prospects into the seduction of your services. These touches need to be well-planned with a consistent message, at the right frequency, and with the right mix of offers. Not all prospects will be interested in attending a seminar or reading a white paper. While others will want to do both before engaging a conversation with you.

Consider this: do you think a prospect will accept a meeting with you from a cold email? Probably not. But will that same prospect provide you with their contact information in exchange for a new white paper that is relevant to their business? Probably. And will they accept a follow-up call to discuss the content of the white paper or an in-person meeting to discuss how the topic applies to their business and situation? More than often than not, the answer is yes.

10. Planning poorly for lead generation. Value in marketing. Consistent messaging. Integration. Targeting. Lead nurturing. All of that is for naught if it is not well-planned, measured, and tested.

Planning for lead generation is not the kind of thing that happens one time and is forever etched in stone for the year ahead. When it comes to marketing and lead generation, some tactics work better for some companies than others—and you never know which ones work best for you until you test them.

Avoid these top 10 lead generation mistakes and you won’t end up waiting for the new leads. You will already have them.

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.

PR is vitally important to your marketing strategy is often overlooked by speakers, coaches, authors and experts.

Listen to a short video of how you can benefit from it.

Get the drift? Check out how you can obtain up to date media lists in your target market and contact reporters directly. Plus learn how to write PR releases and Pitch Letter. Click here .

Related posts on the blog

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