www.speakerservices.com

Feb 2010 E-Zine

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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New Speakers for Feb 2010

See all Speakers

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

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

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

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Speakers Community Teleclass

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Learn more/register

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Introducing Seed Nurturing post from Modern B2B Marketing

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

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

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

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

Seed nurturing best practices

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Four Reasons Why You Didn’t Get the Sale:

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

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

You didn’t set your intention.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Join Speaker Services E-Mail List

In this Issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- New & Renewing Speakers & Authors
- Tips & Advice & Resources

Subscribe to e-zine http://www.speakerservices.com/nl

Greetings,

Happy New Year. May 2010 be the best ever for you.

I had a great holiday season, lots of movies and an open open house New Years Day gathering at my home.  The photo is me on the left and my friend Paula at my party.

Welcome to our new subscribers and speakers.

Potential clients often ask me, “so what do you do”? So to be clear. Speaker Services offers marketing and training services. On the marketing side we have the online directory www.speakerservices.com that brings speakers and audiences together since 1992. We work with professional people and authors who are interested in growing their business and income through speaking. Additionally I teach speaker marketing consulting through workshops and privates sessions.

Jack Barnard is our master branding, media and presentation coach and works with our clients privately. Please feel free to call me at 310-822-4922 PT or e mail me at susan@speakerservices.com to see if I can assist you in any of your marketing and speaking needs.

You will find many tips and resources in this issue including a great post from Seth Godin talking about Is there a fear shortage? If so, I’m not seeing it.

Check out our new speakers/authors and see what they are talking about. Also see several calls for speaker proposals that I gathered for you.

Speakers’ Summit ’10 our annual event is ready for you to view. Take a look at the program. http://www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit10/program.html

The theme is Position, Prospect, Prosper- The Road Ahead. March 12-14 in Los Angeles. We’ll be delving into Corporate Sponsorship, Getting Booked at High Schools and Colleges, Online Video Strategies, Social Media and Prospecting for Gigs plus Adam Urbanski will share how speakers can make $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with coaching programs.

SPEAKERS/PANELISTS include: Jack Barnard, Brent Scarpo, Sabrina Gibson, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Mitch Mortimer, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Naz Keynejad, Michael McFarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey and more.

You can listen to a 30 minute conversation with Adam and me where we are talking about how coaching can being you mucho $$. Click here to listen. While you are there you can sign up for free for the following teleclasses 1/25 Get Booked in High Schools and Colleges teleclass and 2/8 Online Video Strategies & Corporate Sponsorship

If you would like to be listed in our online directory that brings speakers and authors together with audiences since 1992. Please drop me an e mail susan@speakerservices.com or call me for the listing guidelines. See rates and perks http://www.speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

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

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NEW AND RENEWING SPEAKERS/AUTHORS

See all Featured Speakers for January 2010

Lisa Brisse – S. California
Exercise Physiologist/Fitness Coach inspire and empower you to make healthy lifestyle choices and reach your health and fitness goals – once and for all!
Fitness, Health, Wellness, Work/Life Balance

Dr. Cindy Brown, Author, S. California
Behavior Specialist, Executive Coach, Author shows you how to finally master your behavior, communication and relationships for personal and professional success utilizing her powerful breakthrough techniques and E.M.T.™ process.
Business Solutions, Communication, Personal Development, Relationships

Margaret Futerer Author — S. California
Survivor of polygamist upbringing shares 6-step process that helps women “get past the past,” connect with their personal power, and find their life’s purpose.
Abuse, Inspirational, Polygamy, Self Empowerment, Women’s Issues

Greta Hassel — S. California
Marriage and Family Therapist combines her specialization in couples with ancient teachings of sacred sexuality, showing how to shift from Disillusioned to Delighted!
Addiction/Recovery, Relationships, Sacred Sexuality

Jane Honeck — Portland, Maine, New England
CPA and Personal Financial Specialist reveals the real problem behind all money problems and offers tools for living an empowered, financially conscious life.
Empowerment, Financial Consciousness, Financial Planning, Money Matters

Adekemi “Kemi” Oguntala, M.D. — San Mateo, Northern, CA
“The Teen Doc” helps parents, teachers and health professionals understand the world of teens better in an effort to improve communication on difficult teen topics such as eating disorders, depression, substance use and sexuality.
Family, Parenting and Children, Teens, Tweens

Neil Peterson,  Author, California, New York, Seattle, Washington D.C
Entrepreneur, businessman, public servant, author and adventurer inspires you to “embrace the edge” and say “yes” to the life-challenging opportunities put in front of you every day.
ADHD, Inspirational, Leadership, Motivational

See all speakers/authors

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Call for Proposals

NHPCO’s 11th Clinical Team Conference, Scientific Symposium and Pediatric Intensive: Performing in the Key of E: Excellence in Interdisciplinary Care Gaylord Opryland Nashville Resort and Convention Center, Nashville, TN
September 13 – 15, 2010: Clinical Team Conference,

Presentation/Paper Proposal Deadline: January 22, 2010
http://www.nhpco.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageID=5669

CiTE 2010 :: Call for Presentations
CiTE 2010 Call for Speakers. Pearson eCollege and Pearson Learning Solutions invite faculty. Submit your presentation ideas and descriptions today! CiTE 2010 :
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Call for Presentations http://cite2010.com/cfs.html
Pearson eCollege and Pearson Learning Solutions invite faculty, administrators, program directors, instructional deans, librarians and other education professionals who use our solutions to submit proposals for general sessions at CiTE 2010.

This year’s users conference will feature a variety of thought-provoking sessions led by innovative educators and other thought leaders in online education. Submit your presentation ideas and descriptions today!
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International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions
http://www.iaapa.org/education/CFP/2010CFP.asp

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TIPS AND ADVICE

Listen to the teleclass on Speaker Marketing, 12/30/09 with Susan Levin and special guest Reno Lovinson.

http://speakerservices.audioacrobat.com/download/SpeakerMarketing.mp3

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Speak at Libraries — Rita Emmett

If you are a new or low-fee speaker, consider giving a talk at your local library. Some do not pay, but many pay fees ranging from $50 to $250. Ask for the person in charge of programming, and realize they may book you for a year from now.

Advantages:

- It’s great place to practice.
- They do the marketing and you can gain ideas for your own marketing.
- They often have the ability to audio or video record you. A Chicago suburban library videotapes speakers and puts them on a local cable channel, showing it over and over and over. This gives you great credibility and exposure locally.
- They usually give (or sell at a very low fee) to you the recording and rights to use it.
- You can ask for a testimonial on their letterhead and permission to use it in your marketing. That opens the door to other libraries.
- Patrons of libraries are book people so they are big on buying books. If you do not have one of your own, consider asking another speaker if you can purchase their books at a discount so you can make a profit for yourself selling them. For example, people buy my books at half price and sell at retail, so they make 50% profit on each book.
- You can invite local potential clients to attend.
- You or the library can submit a press release and you can use reprints of that in your promotional material.
- Once you give your first talk at a library, mentioning it to other libraries helps to open doors.
- Occasionally, if you do a great job, the library might hire you to speak to staff, and they usually pay very well.

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Online schedule manager — Donna Gunter, OnlineBizU.com

Tungle (tungle.com) is an online schedule manager that couldn’t be easier to use. With Tungle you send dynamic meeting invitations through the online Tungle interface that are synced with your existing e-calendar and make meetings happen efficiently, with no email ping-pong or phone tag. You can propose multiple times to one or many people for them to choose from. People you invite don’t have to sign up for the service to reply to your invitations. All they need is an email address and a browser.

My two favorite features are the following:

Tungle automatically manages time zones. Invitees see proposed times in their own time zone.
Tungle will dynamically update your pending meeting invitations if you add new events to your calendar that overlap proposed times.

Once the meeting has been booked, everyone gets a confirmation and their calendars are updated. You can synchronize your Tungle calendar with Outlook, Google calendar, iCal/Entourage, or Lotus Notes.

You can make meetings much easier to schedule with the Tungle Me feature. Create your personal link to display your availability and let others schedule meetings with you without their having to sign up. When synced with your calendar, your link always shows your most up-to-date availability (free/busy only, not your calendar details). And you can place a Tungle Me button on your social networking profiles, as well as your Web site and blog. A Tungle app for the iPhone has just been added as well. Visitors to your link don’t have to sign up, but they will have to confirm who they are by verifying their email address. You get the final say over if and when you meet.

If you’re on a team and have to manage a meeting, you can connect to your network with cross-calendar sharing. Easily share your free/busy or details calendar with anyone, inside or outside your company, independent of their platform. You choose, on a person-by-person basis, whether you want to share your full details or free/busy calendar. Start or stop sharing with anyone, at any time. See your sharing buddies’ schedules overlaid on yours.

It’s very easy to use, and best of all, it’s a no-cost tool! Get affiliate link
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Amazon.com Marketing: How to Get Your Blog Published on Amazon’s Kindle, Donna Gunter

Amazon’s Kindle is a electronic book-reading device that allows people to purchase and download electronic versions of books, newspapers, and magazines. Now, you can have your blog available to Kindle readers, as well. Best of all, you can get paid for this strategy. However, you don’t get to pick the price Kindle owners pay to subscribe to your blog. Amazon chooses the price, based on what it believes is fair. This means $0.99 or $1.99 per month for most blogs. There is no way to distribute your blog for free.

The downside? You get only 30% of the subscription revenue. For example, if your blog sells for $0.99 cents and 1000 people subscribe to it via the Kindle, you’ll receive $297 per month rather than the full $990 per month paid to Amazon. International publishers must receive their funds via a U.S. check, which comes with a hefty international transaction charge.

All Kindle Blog subscriptions start with a 14-day free trial. Subscribers can cancel at any time during the free trial period. If they wish to continue their subscription, they do nothing and it will automatically continue at the regular monthly price.

How can you get your blog distributed on the Kindle? Here are the 6 easy steps to Kindle publication:

1. Sign up. Go to https://kindlepublishing.amazon.com to sign up.

2. Create new account. Your existing Amazon.com account information will not work here. You’ll need to create a new account. Because you are eligible to receive payments for subscriptions, you’ll also need to provide some banking information and a tax ID number. Unfortunately, they don’t pay commissions via Paypal.

3. Add your blog. You’ll need the following information to complete your submission.

–RSS/Atom feed for your blog (be sure that your posts appear as full posts rather than excerpts or your blog will fail validation)
–blog description
–blog screenshot
–blog masthead/banner
–blog keywords

4. Review your entries. Double-check your entries before publishing the results.

5. Publish your blog to Kindle. Once you hit the “Publish to Kindle” button, it will take 48-72 hours to appear in Amazon.

6. Promote your Amazon status. Once your blog is published, you can ask your blog readers to go to Amazon and rate your blog as well as review it.

In all honesty, you’re not going to make much money from Kindle for the moment. Even though images are black and white and video won’t play on the Kindle, it’s a convenient way to read blogs on the go. However, I believe that the more methods of distribution you provide for your content, the better. Follow these 6 steps and become a published blogger on Amazon today!
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Resource for Video Trailers, AuthorsBroadCast.com
Reno Lovison Marketing, (773) 989-1960
http://www.authorsbroadcast.com

We produce and display book videos trailers intended to help authors and publishers promote their books.

Like movie trailers – - book video trailers are intended to quickly acquaint readers with an author and/or the content of a book they might like to purchase and read.

Most of our videos are produced for printed books but we produce videos for e-books and audio books as well.

Readers and book lovers are invited to view book video trailers here. Then click through to the author’s or publisher’s website to learn more or make a purchase

Authors and publishers are invited to post your trailer here or have us produce a video trailer for your book.

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Seth Godin Blog
Is there a fear shortage? If so, I’m not seeing it.

When something is scarce, it’s valuable and smart people try to make more of it. So, should we be trying to make more fear?

Looking around, it appears as though the government, various media players and lots of well-meaning people have come to a conclusion that there’s a shortage of fear. So they’re busy making more of it. Making more when we already have a surplus…

We’re inundated about ways to avoid this pitfall or that risk.

If you see something, say something. Hmmm. Has that actually worked? Or x-raying shoes? When was the last time a bad guy was foiled because he couldn’t use a good camera to take a picture of a tourist attraction? Why do the authorities at Grand Central Station in New York wear desert camouflage?

Not just fear of terror (which is another word for fear). Fear of failure. Reminding people that an idea will never work, that the market is in failure, that all hope is lost–does that work very often?

Fear mongering is a lousy profession, one that ought to be regulated, if not banned. I’m more in favor of hope mongering. 2010 is the year that the world will change. In fact, every year is that year, but this is the only time we’ll get to change the world this time

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Speakers Community
UPCOMING TELECLASSES

Teleclasses FREE 4 Speakers Community Members 2 months complimentary Join now

Jan 14 – Every Word has Power, Yvonne Oswald

Why are the words you use when you speak so important? Because using low energy words such as hard, worry, difficult or problem, stimulates negative emotions in the middle or limbic brain, slowing down or diminishing your intent, while high energy, powerful impactful words like excitement, joy, fun, laughter, harmony or success get the imagination flowing by stimulating the cerebral cortex, the initiator of great results. Learn more

Jan 28 – Publicity Tactics: Get PR with Mainstream & Social Media Networks, Dan Janal

Do you scream when you pick up a newspaper and see someone quoted when you know that you are the authority in that field?

Ever wonder why your competitors get quoted and you don’t?

Wonder no longer. You are about to learn how to get the publicity you need to get the visibility and credibility you need to sell more speaking engagements and consulting services – so you get more clients and charge higher fees. Learn more.

Complimentary Preview teleclass for Speakers’ Summit ’10

Monday, Jan 25, 4-5pm PT or 7-8pm ET

Get Booked to Speak at Colleges and Presentation Skills-Speakers’ Summit Preview
Brent Scarpo and Jack Barnard Register

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Subscribe to e-zine http://www.speakerservices.com/nl

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And in the Blog

Gifts ad ReGifting

Online Video Advertising Opportunities are Limitless

Holiday Greetings from Susan Levin, Speaker Services

Many of my colleagues have sent me gifts in the form of e-books and I in turn am passing along a few of the e-books that I will be helpful.

First though, I found the following sample speaker contracts on National Speakers Associations’ Website.  Keep them in a safe place.

contract2.pdf

contract2-1.pdf

contract3.pdf

contract4.pdf

Next is a tool I use everyday.  Powerful verbs for add persuasion to your writing.

powerful-verbs-that-add-persuasion-to-your-writing.pdf

Enjoy the best of 2009 tips from Joan Stewart, The Publicity Hound.

ebook-bestof2009publicityhound.pdf

Orvel Ray Wilson shared Guerilla Marketing™ – Unconventional weapons and tactics for the advanced professional speaker.

gm-for-advanced-professional-speakers-handout.pdf

I subscribed to 101 quotes and received a short e-book.

ebook_101quotes.pdf

Another gift from Speaker Services

The Speakers’ Community our membership club offers hundreds of interviews of experts in the archives.  Join for two months for FREE and hten $19.95 a month thereafter.

Listen live or download the mp3′s of two experts each month.

Check it out http://www.speakerscommunity.com .

I appreciate you all and could not do Speaker Services without your love and support for the past 18 years.   Marketing and training services for speakers & authors.

On Wednesday, Dec. 30, 2009 I am offering a complimentary Q & A teleclass on Speaker Marketing.  Got questions?  I have the answers. You can register here http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/156 .

Send your questions ahead of time please to susan@speakerservices.com. Can’t make it?  Register anyhow and we’ll send you the mp3.

The Speakers’ Summit ’10 our annual event is ready for you.  I mentioned it several times this past week and the registrations are rolling in.  It is important to invest in your business by going to conferences to further your education.   And I have a great deal for you and we offer tons of content.

Grab your seat for $297.  Take a look at the program and see for yourself.
http://www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit10/program.html

SPEAKERS/PANELISTS include: Jack Barnard,  Brent Scarpo, Sabrina Gibson, Adam Urbanski, Ursula Mentjes, Susan Levin, Mitch Mortimer, Barbara Niven, Nancy Solari, Naz Keynejad, Michael McFarlane, Mark Mikelat, Deborah Deras, Keith Ivey and more.

The theme is Position, Prospect, Prosper- The Road Ahead.  March 12-14 in Los Angeles.  We’ll be delving into Corporate Sponsorship, Getting Booked at High Schools and Colleges, Online Video Strategies, Social Media and Prospecting for Gigs plus Adam Urbanski will share how speakers can make  $250,000 to $1,000,000 a year with coaching programs.

 Jack Barnard speaking at the Summit ’09

You can listen to a 30 minute conversation with Adam and me where we are talking about what he is going to share with us at the Summit.  Click here to listen and you can also sign up for free for the 1/25 Get Booked in High Schools and Colleges teleclass and 2/8, Online Video Strategies & Corporate Sponsorship on the same page.

I am taking appointments the rest of the month for marketing clients so give a call if I can assist you with your speaker marketing plan for 2010.

Merry Holidays to you all.  Wishing you loads of joy and prosperity and good health.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services

susan@speakerservices.com
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SPEAKERS’ COMMUNITY TELECLASSES  2010

Every Word Has Power, Yvonne Oswald
Thursday, January 14, 4-5pm PT or  7-8pm ET  Can’t make it  We’ll send you the mp3  Learn more  

Publicity Tactics: Get Publicity with Mainstream & Social Media Networks with Dan Janal
Thursday, January 28,  4-5pm PT or  7-8pm ET  Learn more

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

Give yourself a gift and join the Community.  You can’t beat price of the expertise that is offered twice a month.  Don’t have time to listen live then download the mp3′s and listen at your convenience.  You can download the past two years of mp3′s!

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What have I been twittering about @speakerservices

Speakers Summit ’10 http://ping.fm/huzwM is an affiliate program share $ http://bit.ly/8F9lhl

RT @adamurbanski How I Turned $194 Into Two Seven Figure Businesses http://bit.ly/6PUJFH [video] Will be speaking at the Speakers Summit ’10

RT @DeniseWakeman 16 articles about how to use online video in your business: http://is.gd/5u0j2

Take advantage of Online Video Advertising Opportunities they are Limitless: http://bit.ly/6L6MWp  Really gets ya thinking.

Blog Post Gayl Murphy-Spotlight on the Media: Interview Tactics! How To Survive the Media Without Getting Clobbered! http://bit.ly/6jVqWY

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And in the blog
- Spotlight on the Media

- 20 Simple Ways To Get Massive Traffic To Your Website

- Twitter Marketing: 6 Steps to Creating a Viral Marketing Campaign with Twitter Hashtags

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY Teleclasses

Teleclasses FREE for Speakers’ Community Members , 60 days complimentary www.speakerscommunity.com

Oct 14   Make Money in Your Jammies, Rebecca Morgan 

Oct 29   Market Your Book Beyond the Platform, Shel Horowitz

Nov 12  Put Your Best Book Forward, Ellen Reid

Nov 30  Profit as a Speaker by Becoming a Radio Talk Show Host, Martin Wales

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Los Angeles WORKSHOPS

Oct 24  

Social Media Marketing: The New Frontier Workshop, Susan Levin

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Oct 26 or Nov 23

Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop, Susan Levin

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Nov 1, Costa Mesa

Connect with Reporters who want to Hear Your Message:  Tips for Pitch Letters, Jean-Noel Bassior & Susan Levin

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Nov 8 

Three camera video demo showcase

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Nov 11-15

Speakers’ Bootcamp, Jack Barnard & Susan Levin

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Nov 20-22

Oscar Level Presentations & Video Workshop, Barbara Niven, Jack Barnard & Susan Levin, call for details

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 See all workshops www.speakerservices.com

Susan Levin, 310-822-4922  PST

susan@speakerservices.com

Speaker Services- October ’09 -  E-Zine

This is the first time I am publishing my e-zine on the blog.  More then likely I will post some of the past issues soon especially if ya all send me your comments.

There is so much valuable information to be shared.

If you care to subscribe to our e mail out reaches here a great place to subscribe http://www.speakerservices.com/nl/

Susan, susan@speakerservices.com

In this Issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- New & Renewing Speakers & Authors
- Tips & Advice & Resources
- Article: Social Networking: 7 Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter

Greetings from Susan Levin

“Marketing is not an event, but a process . . . It has a beginning, a middle, but never an end, for it is a process. You improve it, perfect it, change it, even pause it. But you never stop it completely.” Jay Conrad Levinson

Isn’t that true?  And it is changing so fast that it is challenging to stay up with all the trends.  Social media has profoundly altered the way we market and communicate.  Not sure what I am talking about? Social Media Marketing is the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value.  Here’s a great way to understand it and to see the make up of social media marketing.  Content + Context + Connections + Community = Social Media Marketing.

Last week PR Wire offered a Webinar on how to include video in your PR releases/Pitch Letters which you then can use to leverage your social networks, post to your blog, tweet your video nd more.   According to the speakers they have had great success including a short video on their new releases. A picture is worth a 1,000 words a Video is worth millions.  We are offering one camera shoots in November ask me about it if you would like to create a few short professional videos.  Our 3 camera video demo showcase is November 8 in LA.  We have 2 slots open at this time.  It is exciting times as there are many more ways to distribute your videos whether it is a one or three camera video.  You see video is viral.

Social networking sites  offer businesses and individuals both networking and marketing opportunities, all at no cost. However, if you don’t know how to make your social networking site work for you, you might end up losing business instead of gaining it!

Here are a few articles that you might want to read

Top Ten Reasons Why You Must Add Video to Your Marketing Mix This Fall

The Evolution of Social Media

Failing at the Future: 10 Reasons Why Some Companies will Miss out on the Economic Upturn!

Donna Gunter talks to us today about Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter. I have also included other tips on how to tweet and use hashtags.

Regarding community will we see you at the LA Meet Up, Speak Up Networking and Get Mentored event in Marina del Rey, Wednesday, October 7?  Click here for details to register. We want to connect with you.  You must sign up by Monday, October 5.

On Sunday October 11 I will be at  An Empowered Woman  Expo Networking Event you are welcome to attend and please stop by and say hello.

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NEW AND RENEWING SPEAKERS AND AUTHORS  October 2009

Dr. Bunny Vreeland, video — Ventura County, CA
Board Certified clinical hypnotherapist and award-winning image consultant combines expertise in both fields to help you lose weight, ease stress, stop smoking, conquer phobias, and give yourself a makeover — inside and out.
Anti-Aging, Body-Mind, Stress Management

Jeffrey I Condon , author  — S. California
Attorney/author reveals how to divide your money and property after you are gone — without dividing your family.
Estate Planning, Inheritance Planning, Senior Issues, Wills/Living Trusts

See all speakers/authors
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Are you connecting with us via the Speakers’ Community?
Look at who I am interviewing in October.
- Oct 14  Make Money in Your Jammies: Creating Income from Teleseminars, Blogs and Subsequent Products, Rebecca Morgan
- Oct 29  Market Your Book Beyond the Platform, Shel Horowitz

Speakers Community is a Membership club and if you care to join us you can join the community for 60 days for free and have access to the 2 teleclass interviews each month plus the last two years of mp3’s.

This is an online library of stellar experts on various aspects of the speaking industry.  Can anyone tell me where they can access information as such from the experts for $10 an hour?  That’s right it is a mere $19.95 a month. Talk about a stimulus package!
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Susans’ Recommended Resource-  AudioAcrobat

I love audioacrobat and have been using it for 3 years.

AudioAcrobat – Powerful and Easy Online Radio and Audio Content Development Tool

AudioAcrobat is an audio recording, streaming and hosting service. All of your audio and video messages are automatically converted into a single of html code that can be uploaded to any Website.

AudioAcrobat is the easiest way to add great audio to your Web site and emails. Produce your own online radio show and broadcast to the world!

Record testimonials of your clients and customers! It is the simple way to create audio with your telephone, PC microphone or by uploading files. It is absolutely painless audio recording!

Use AudioAcrobat for:
* Advertising * Advice * Announcements * Classes * Coaching * Conference Calls * Demos * Events * Fun * Fund Raising * Greetings * How-to * Humor * Interviews * Introductions * Lectures * Music Clips * Opinions * Presentations * Product Descriptions * Radio Shows * Seminars * Statements * Support * Testimonials * Workshops

Learn more and try it out 30 days free

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Want a Kindle edition of your book? Use Word
John Kremer www.bookmarket.com

In a web article, Aaron Shepard shares how to use Microsoft Word to format your book for Kindle. He offers succinct and clear instructions on how to do this at http://www.newselfpublishing.com/WordKindle.html.

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Enormous Wisdom on Ethical Business Success…Big Discount for You

One of the most remarkable books I’ve come across is Shel Horowitz’s award-winning Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First. In 160 pages, Shel lays out a number of forward-thinking ideas about ethics, environmental sustainability, and mutually beneficial partnerships–and shows, hands-on, how to put these ideas into practice in your own business, slashing marketing costs and boosting profit as you go.

This groundbreaking book was endorsed by over 80 entrepreneurs and marketers from Chicken Soup co-creator Jack Canfield to former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich…resold to publishers in India and Mexico…purchased in bulk by the president of Southwest Airlines–and business publisher John Wiley & Sons bought the rights and is using the book as a basis for Shel’s eighth book, Guerrilla Marketing Goes Green, which Shel is co-authoring with Jay Conrad Levinson.

But once the new book comes out, Shel is prohibited by contract from selling the old one. So he’s asked me to offer them to you at a deep discount, and with two e-books he’s written as bonuses. Please visit http://bit.ly/18KeY1 to take advantage of this incredible value
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Sell more books with Twitter hashtags, John Kremer

The following tip was provided by Michael Volkin, author of Social Networking for Authors:

Twitter is not only good for keeping in touch with customers, but you can also find new customers with hashtags. I have had great success selling books using Twitter hashtags.

Hashtags are a way Twitter uses organize their tweets about a specific topic. For example, if you want to tweet about real estate, you could start off a tweet with a pound sign then the word real estate, like this #RealEstate. There are numerous hashtags that have already been established, and new ones cropping up daily.

So why use hashtags? Because Twitter users often search hashtags for content. So if you’re tweeting about your book and using proper hashtags, a potential customer can come across your book who wouldn’t have otherwise. Go to hashtags.org and search for hashtags that Twitter users are using right now. Who knows, maybe you’ll find a customer or two….or ten.

Be sure to follow me on Twitter (username: @NetworkAuthor), I’ll follow you back. For more tips on how to market your book via social networks, go to Michael Volkin’s SellaTonofBooks.com and purchase his new book Social Networking for Authors-Untapped Possibilities for Wealth.
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What to tweet about?
a few key tweets from JohnKremer@bookmarket.com

I share some interesting resources and tips in my regular tweeting via Twitter. If you want to get those tips as I share them, follow me at http://www.twitter.com/johnkremer

Twitter Mania Manual now 94 pages. Download free at

http://www.bookmarket.com/50WaystoTweet.htm

Want to sell rights to a cookbook? Check out http://bookmarket.com/cookbook.htm

SpeakerServices Tweets

Get Paid to Speak at Conferences, Seminars, Schools or Colleges.  Learn everything u need 2 win the Game of Speaking http://ping.fm/ifbo3

Meet Dr Bunny Speaker hypnotherapist helps you lose weight, ease stress, stop smoking, conquer phobias http://bit.ly/xTCgm

Do u have a media room on your website?  It’s a place 2 share press, speaking gigs, pitch letters, articles blog post http://bit.ly/2M7n6M

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ARTICLE

Social Networking: 7 Strategies to Finding Your Target Market on Twitter, Donna Gunter  Onlinebizu.com

Social networking using Twitter seems to be the most popular way to connect today, from celebrity Ashton Kutcher’s challenge to Oprah to reach one million friends first (Ashton won) to a U.S. State Department official contacting the co-founder of Twitter to delay upgrading the Twitter system so as not to interrupt election dialogue in Iran. More and more news agencies are using Twitter to keep their audience up-to-date, and local businesses are also jumping on the Twitter bandwagon as an immediate way to connect with their customers, as well.

How can you make the best use of Twitter in your business? It all starts with having followers in your target market. No doubt you’ve been inundated with email offers of things like “10,000 Twitter followers in 60 seconds for only $19.95!” Trust me — 1000 followers that are members of your target market are much more useful to the growth of your business via social networking than 10,000 followers that come from anywhere.

How do you find members of your target market on Twitter? Here are my top 7 strategies:

1. Add people you know in your industry. Twitter permits people to use fictitious names or business names as their Twitter identity, rather than their given name. So, it may be difficult at times to find the person you’re seeking, especially if she goes by “ShoeDiva” on Twitter and you know her as Miranda Smith. Try Twitter Search  or Advanced Search , to help you in your quest.

2. Find others with the same interests or serving the same target market. The online yellow pages of Twitter users, Twellow.com, permits users to list themselves by industry and interests. If your business isn’t currently listed on Twellow, take a few minutes to do that right away.

3. Follow those in the same geographic region. If marketing to your local area is an important part of your business, find local members of your target market by using Twellowhood.com or TwitterLocal.com and find the top movers and shakers in your region, as well as some members of your target market. If you want to meet fellow Tweeps face-to-face, search local Tweetups at TwtVite,com, or create your own gathering.

4. Get relevant recommendations. The free service, MrTweet.com, will provide you with info on recommended people to follow based on your current Twitter profile. You do have to follow MrTweet in order to participate. Once you’re logged in, you can see your recommendations, along with how these recommendations are connected to your list of followers. You can evaluate your recommendations, and MrTweet will make changes in your recommended list accordingly.

5. Follow those who follow you. It’s considered good Twitter etiquette to follow those people who’ve chosen to follow you. And, to prevent being labeled a Twitter snob, ideally you should be following more people than are following you. I have automated my ability to follow my followers by using a free version of TweetLater.com.

6. Look for keywords. Another way to find relevant followers is to keep track of people mentioning certain keywords in their Tweets. I do that through the free version of TweetLater.com. I use this same service to keep track of any mentions of me or my company on Twitter in the very same way I use Google Alerts.

7. Find groups. Twibes.com permits you to find groups by industry and interest and join them and/or see the members of each group. And, if you so inclined, you can create your own Twitter group, as well.

Remember, finding your target market is just the beginning. Once you’ve found them, you need to begin to build relationships with them. This means paying attention to what they say so that you can respond when appropriate either with a direct message (DM) or an @ reply that is public or retweeting (RT) their message to your followers when you feel someone has great info that would be useful to those who follow you. Take 10-15 minutes per day to keep yourself informed about what’s happening with your Tweeps and watch your business grow!

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Speaker Services Workshops

Saturday, October 24
Social Media Marketing: The New Frontier, Susan Levin
Learn more/register http://tinyurl.com/ps7vwk

Social media has profoundly altered the way we market and communicate.

Social Media Marketing is the use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value.

Content + Context + Connections + Community = Social Media Marketing

Marketing on social networking sites like Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter can help increase the size of your email list and grow your business. The key to success is making sure that members of your target market are in your network.

What consumers are primarily interested in today are not features, but relationships.”
– Harry Beckwith, “Selling the Invisible”

In the workshop you will learn tools, tactics and implementation techniques to

- Build your business with social networking and increase your online visibility
- Develop a social media strategy presence across the key social media platforms
- Leverage and create content, connection, and community
- Explore why it’s never about the sale, it’s always about the relationship
- Produce and distribute content that can be shared and extends the voice of your brand, product and company
- Explore how articles writing, blogs, utube can create brand awareness and buzz
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Sunday, November 1 in Costa Mesa, CA
Learn how to write pitch letters, grab attention of reporters

- Contact reporters, bloggers, talk show producers and other media people directly, using the language they understand.

- Link your product, service or story to news of the day or issues on the national stage.

- Practice writing a powerful pitch letter that hooks the media and makes them want to know more about you and what you do.

- The difference between a pitch letter and a press release and how to know which one to send when you want publicity.

Learn more/register

______________________

Latest posts in the Blog

√ Does Your Website Have a Media Room?

√ The 10 biggest traps to avoid when you speak

Today’s post comes from Donna Gunter, The Online Biz Resource Queen™

I love being a guest on other people’s teleseminars. What I love best is the fact that all I have to do is show up and talk when someone else is sponsoring them. I’m responsible for none of the marketing and promotion and registration involved with sponsoring a teleseminar. Best of all is that I don’t have to schlep all over town to do these guest speaking gigs. I’m presenting my expertise to my target market from the comfort of my own home office.

How can you add a signature teleseminar to your marketing mix? Here’s my 10-step process for creating and profiting from your own signature teleseminar:

1. Create 3 info-packed 50 minute teleseminars. Have at your disposal at least 3 information-packed signature teleseminars that you can present at a moment’s notice. So many of the teleseminars and webinars that I have attended recently are nothing but thinly disguised sales pitches for a very expensive live event, product, or mentoring/coaching program. I don’t object to being sold to — after all, I’m a business owner and I realize that others can’t simply give away their time at no charge solely for the joy of doing a presentation. However, what I do resent is wasting my time listening to 45 minutes of sales pitch and 5 minutes of questionably valuable information. Ensure your listeners great value each and every time that you present a teleclass, and provide information that they use today in their businesses.

2. Craft your description and learning bullet points. Write a one paragraph overview of your teleclass and include 3-7 bullet points outlining what the participants will learn as a result of participating in your teleseminar. Your host will love you, as you’ve just provided the bulk of the text she’ll need to market your teleseminar.

3. Write your bio and have your headshot available. Teleseminar hosts like to begin with a short introduction of the guest and often post the guest bio to their web sites or send it out as a part of the teleseminar promotion to their lists. In this version of your bio, craft a succinct description of who you are and what you do that includes any certifications you may hold, authorship of books, and your unique selling proposition. Then provide a very short overview of your background and your current company. The goal is to have a short, compelling bio (around 150 words) that takes the host about 20 seconds to read to introduce you. Include a small version of your headshot and logo to help your host add graphical interest to the teleseminar promotions.

4. Determine your call to action/sales pitch. Prior to the call, determine your most desired action from the participants. Is it to buy a particular product? Sign up for a complimentary consultation? Send for your free gift and be added to your newsletter list? Ideally, you should offer participants the ability to buy into your business at 3 levels: free, low-cost, more expensive. You’ll then have a wider appeal to the audience to capture them at wherever they are in terms of price point. Include your call to action in the promotional emails as appropriate, in your handout, and within your PowerPoint slides. In order to create a sense of urgency, you should set a deadline that falls 24-48 hours after your presentation that serves as the cutoff point for your special pricing offer. If participants are encouraged to register even if they can’t participate on the live call (i.e. all registrants can access a recording of the call), create a special offer available only to those on the live class to increase live participation numbers.

5. Create a landing page on your web site for participants. If your call to action involves special pricing on your product or service, create a landing page on your web site that greets the participants by name, i.e. Welcome XYZ Conference Participants. Customize your page several more times to refer to the participants by name, and be sure to include the deadline for the special pricing offer in the text of the page as well as in the PS of your sales page. I simply take my traditional sales page and customize it for the group for which I’ll be speaking and update the deadlines for special pricing. In order to make this most effective, you have to remember to remove the sales page on your designated deadline and replace it with a page that indicates the visitor has returned after the deadline but can still purchase your product or service at its regular price.

6. Design a PPT and handouts. Even if I’m doing a teleseminar with no visual component, I still put together a PowerPoint file of my presentation. I provide that to the host if I’m doing a webinar or presenting in an audio conference room. For teleseminars, I turn my PowerPoint file into a PDF that serves as a handout for the participants. I add a first page that contains my contact information as well as resources mentioned during the call and my call to action. Talk to your host to determine if she will be distributing the handout via email or on her web site prior to the call or if you need to have it available for download from your web site.

7. Determine your guesting requirements. When I’m a guest presenter, at a minimum I request a recording of the teleseminar that I can use in whatever way I want in my business. I may place it on my site as a free download, send it out as a podcast, make it a members-only benefit, or sell it or include it as a part of another product available on my site. If the host is providing a transcript of the session, request a copy of that as well to use in your business. Lastly, inquire if the host is sending out a followup email to participants after the teleseminar. If so, ask to have your contact info and special offer sent to them again.

8. Research venues offering teleclasses and request to be a guest. Most of the invitations I’ve received to be a teleseminar guest have resulted from articles I’ve written in professional and trade publications, from someone visiting the speaking page of my web site, or from having been heard speaking to another group. However, don’t wait for people to contact you. Start to research companies sponsoring teleclasses or workshops for your target market and ask to be a guest. In your request, be sure and provide detailed info about the topic on which you’ll be speaking, as well as a copy of your handout. You want to make it as easy as possible for the host to pick you as the next teleseminar guest.

9. Repackage your teleseminar for different markets. You don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time you speak to a different target market. With a few changes in your materials, you can usually change the focus of your presentation and make it appear customized for the target market to whom you’ll be speaking. Many times just changing the title and inserting the name of your target market is all you have to do to create a seemingly customized presentation.

10. Ask for a testimonial to add to your web site. Once you’ve completed your presentation, don’t forget to ask for a testimonial from your host that you can place on your web site. In order to be valuable to you, the testimonial should include info about how much value you provided in the presentation, sample of positive feedback from participants, or how your presentation enabled some type of change or ability to take action from the participants.
Spend a few hours designing your signature teleseminar and begin to offer to present it to various groups. You’ll see your both your list and sales numbers grow from this easy-to-implement marketing strategy.

Online Business Coach Donna Gunter helps baby boomers create profitable online retirement businesses by demystifying the steps needed to successfully market a  baby boomer business 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.OnlineBizU.com .

Learn more about Donna’s Membership Club http://tinyurl.com/6jwrq5

Social Networking is all the rage these days and there are new networks cropping up daily. It can be overwhelming.  There is a network for every industry as you will discover in the short list below.

On Feb 12 I will be interviewing Donna Gunter in a teleclass about how to Build Your Speaking Practice with Social Networking 30 Minutes a Day. Donna Gunter, author of Get More Clients Online:  How to Get 95% of Your Clients from Internet Marketing, is known as the Boomer Biz Queen™.  Join us http://www.speakerservices.com/teleclasses/detail/124 

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

Catch Nancy Marmolejo, PR, media, and social networking strategist who teaches entrepreneurs how to generate more money and attention by positioning themselves in the spotlight at the SpeakersSummit09 May 1-3 when she talks about How to Get FREE Publicity & Attract New Clients with the Power of Social Networking. .

This is a short list offered by John Kremer of www.bookmarket.com.  To view the entire the list  http://www.bookmarket.com/socialnetworks.htm

Bebo: http://www.bebo.com — Headquartered in San Francisco. 30 million users, primarily teens and young adults. The top social networking website in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand. Now owned by AOL. 22 million visitors in January 2008.

BlackPlanet: http://www.blackplanet.com — A social network of 16 million African Americans.

BlueString: http://www.bluestring.com — Upload and share photos, videos, and music from your PC. Just drag and drop to share. With StringIt, you can share your creative collections (for example, from a wedding or other event) and then invite family and friends to add their own photos, videos, or music to add to the story. A service of AOL.

Book Marketing Network: http://bookmarket.ning.com — The social network for book authors and publishers. A place to share tips, book trailers, questions and answers, photos, blogs, and more. Sponsored by John Kremer, author of 1001 Ways to Market Your Books.

Classmates Online: http://www.classmates.com — A social network for connecting with old high school and college classmates. The third largest social networking site.

Cyworld: http://www.cyworld.com — Headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. 24 million users. Big in South Korea.

Deviant Art: http://www.deviantart.com — A social networking and sales site for art, manga, and more. Motto: The largest art community in the world.

Doppelit Train: http://www.doppelit.com — The Entrepreneur Connection, this site brings you motivational newsletters and teleseminars, networking, and insight into the right way to do business. “When you register for Doppelit you put yourself in the top 10% of entrepreneurs worldwide, with a ticket on the Doppelit Train you join the top 3%.”

FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com — Headquartered in Palo Alto. The second most significant social networking site on the U.S. web, with a greater emphasis on college students (but half of the users are out of college). 70 million users as of April 2008. 47 million unique visitors in May 2007; 73.5 unique visitors in September 2007; 101 million unique visitors in January 2008 (Comscore); 123.9 million unique visitors in May 2008. 65 billion page views per month.

Fast Pitch! Networking: http://www.fastpitchnetworking.com — A fast-growing business social network on the web that also includes a free press release syndication service, blog syndication, and more.

JacketFlap: http://www.jacketflap.com — A comprehensive resource site for the children’s book industry, featuring thousands of published authors, illustrators, agents, librarians, teachers, editors, publicists, and publishers. Features a social network, blogs, a blog consolidator, and more. Also includes up-to-date information on children’s book publishers and hundreds of children’s book blogs. John Kremer’s profile there: http://www.jacketflap.com/JohnKremer.

LawLink: http://www.lawlink.com — Professional and social network for attorneys.

Library Thing: http://www.librarything.com — Users share the books and book lists they love. More users than Shelfari and more flexible (according to one user). Now offering galley copies to users who will write a review for the website. Their Library Thing Local lists bookstores, libraries, and book festivals including author appearances, events, and signings at these venues. Authors and publishers are invited to add event listings.

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written by Susan Levin

Are you watering your business?  No matter where you are on your path Speaker Services since ’92 has a myriad of services that will keep you and your business evergreen.

It is essential to budget some of our services into your marketing plan.

11 TIPS TO WATER YOUR BUSINESS:

Are you ready to connect with audiences who want to hear your message?  

I signed up with Speaker Services, got a speech the next day, and it’s been raining speeches ever since! I cannot say enough about Susan Levin’s remarkable generosity and support. She has been an unfailing source of information and inspiration at all times. I highly recommend Speaker Services if you are serious about increasing your business.

—Ann Convery, Speaker/Author

1. Get Listed in Speaker Services Directory.  Ask me for the speakers guidelines – 15th of each month deadline for speaker/author copy.  Learn more

2. Got questions about the Business of Speaking?

Speaker Marketing, Presentation Packets, Branding, Focusing, Where to Speak, Video demos, Finding audiences, Website evaluation, book mentoring, info products, social media????

Let’s get a roadmap in place for you.

20 mins complimentary telephone sessions with Susan Levin, international marketing coach for professionals and authors.

Fill out the assessment form and I will contact you to set up a convenient time to chat.

http://www.speakerservices.com/assessment_form.html

3. Listen to the teleclass with the experts…

September Teleclasses

Teleclasses are free when you join the Speakers’ Community  (60 days complimentary)

or you can pay per teleclass

Can’t attend  sign up anyhow and receive the mp3

Wed- September 17

Speakers’ Secret Weapon

Leverage Your Time & Energy to Create Your Lifestyle Business, Melanie Benson Strick

Discover these simple steps to revolutionizing the way work gets done in your business.

Learn more/register

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Thurs- September 25

 Expertizing: Get More Media Attention for your Biz, Fern Reiss

In today’s world, positioning is everything. A handful of individuals seem to dominate, out-consult, and out-sell everyone else.  Want to become known as that expert in your field, quoted by the media on a daily basis?

learn more/register

4. Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop with Susan Levin in Los Angeles

Sept 24

Are you an expert in your field with lots of advice and experience to pass along?  In this workshop you will learn the nuts and bolts of the speaking circuit from a marketing viewpoint.

Learn more/register

________________

5.  Speakers’ Summit 

October 19 and 20 in LA

SPEAKERS:

Jack Barnard, Susan Levin, Gina Ratiffe, Lisa Sasevich

MEET THE EXPERTS:

The Blog Squad: Denise Wakeman & Patsi Krakoff, Gayl Murphy, Jean-Noel Bassior,  Ian Rich, Tony DeMaio

The Speakers’ Summit was the best training I could ever receive to help me take my speaking business to the next level. 

Finally, I feel ready to truly manifest the career of my dreams.

- Jesus Nebot, Jesus Nebot International

3 for 1 offer

$597

3 for 1 offer- bring 2 friends for total of $597

Former Summit Attendees

$397

3 for 1 offer- bring 2 friends for total of $397

All the details are  at http://www.speakerservices.com/speakerssummit1008 read more and see for yourself.

__________

6.  Speakers’ Bootcamp (several slots open)

facilitated by Jack Barnard with Susan Levin

November 5-9

Listen to Q & A teleclass   (60 mins) 

http://www.speakerservices.com/services/thegame.html 

Learn everything you need to win the Game of Speaking 

Bootcamp was indeed an experience. It met my expectations and more. I left with an incredible brand and identified a plan and process for developing speeches and seminars.

- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach

 Jack is the Wizard of Oz for speakers. Every person had a profound transformation and walked away with marketable branding and a solid speech foundation. Thank you Jack, for your heart and soul. We’ll take part of you with us out into the world.

- Barbara Niven, Actress, Writer, Director, Speaker

________

7. VIDEO DEMO SHOWCASE, 3 camera video demo

November 2

http://www.speakerservices.com/videoprod.html

See more videos on youtube Speaker Services Channel

We appreciate your comments

________

8. And in the Blog 

- You’re an Expert-But Can You Speak?

- The Ultimate Publishing Guide – How To Publish Your Book Without Breaking Out In A Sweat

- Relationship Marketing for the 21st Century

________

9.  Resources

audio acrobat, credit card processing, shopping carts, virtual assistants to corporate sponsorship, speak at colleges or on cruise ships and more

________

10.  Products, CD’s, MP3′s, special reports for speakers and authors

learn more

 ________

11.  Join the Speakers’ Community: A membership club- 60 days complimentary

learn more

 May you flourish and grow

Networking is by far one of the most effective ways that I have garnered business. It’s great to get yourself out there. I would say that 50% of my business comes from my relentless networking. Afterall marketing your business is about realtionship marketing. People like to do business with people they know and feel comfortable with. When I saw the following post 50 Networking Thoughts Everyone Should Read by Scott Ginsberg in Rain Today I was moved to share it with you today.

One of the challenges in networking is being able to say what you do in 30 seconds or less. It might be called your round robin or your elevator speech. BTW: it is not about shoving your business card in someones hand and thinking they are going to call you.

In the Speakers’ Community Membership site that I run I am offering a teleclass on 2/26 with guest expert and author Lorraine Howell on how to give your elevator speech a lift. You can join the call or listen to the replay by joining the Speakers’ Community and it is 30 days complimentary.

Okay Scott here’s Scott…

The Federal Bureau of Labor published a study a few years back that showed 70% of all new business comes from some form of networking. What other motivation do you need to start?

Below are fifty thoughts to help you on your way. Before you read on, remember: if you think you’re poor at networking, don’t worry, you’re not alone. It’s not a skill we are born with but one we have to learn.

1. Come to every networking event with three great questions ready to go. Be sure they begin with, “What’s the one thing?” “What’s your favorite?” and “What was the best part about?”

2. No matter where you go – the mall, church, out to dinner, the gym – have at least five business cards with you.

3. Be able to give an unforgettable personal introduction in 10 seconds, 30 seconds and 60 seconds.

4. When someone on the phone says, “May I ask who’s calling?” get excited. Say something unique that makes that person say, “Um, okay…please hold.” Be unexpected. Be cool. Be memorable.

5. Get Google alerts on yourself, your company, your area of expertise and your competition. If you don’t know what a Google alert is, just Google it.

6. Networking isn’t selling, marketing or cold calling. It’s the development and maintenance of mutually valuable relationships. Don’t mix these things up.

7. The most important four letters in the word “networking” are w-o-r-k, because that’s exactly what it takes.

8. If you give your business card to somebody and they don’t reply, “Hey, cool card!” get a new card.

9. When attending networking events, come early. Check out the nametags. See if you know anybody, or find people you’d like to meet.

10. Sit in the back so you can scan the room for specific people you’d like to connect with.

11. Email articles of interest, links or other cool stuff of value, (not spam), to people you’ve met.

12. Publish a newsletter or ezine. Interview people from your network and feature them as experts. They will take ownership of their inclusion and spread that publication to everyone they know.

13. Spend one hour a week reading and commenting on other people’s blogs. If you don’t know what a blog is, you’re in trouble.

14. When you read an article you like, email the author. Tell him what you liked about it and introduce yourself. He’ll usually write back.

15. Have an awesome email signature that gives people a reason to click over to your website. Just be careful not to have too much information included.

16. Get involved with social networking sites like LinkdIn, MySpace and Squidoo.

17. Remember that networking doesn’t have to be in person. The Internet is a great place to connect with people just like you! It’s called Internetworking. (Yep, I made that word up.)

18. Make your own words up. It’s really fun.

19. Have business lunches at least once a week.

20. Attend local events once a month.

21. Figure out where your target market hangs out (online and offline). Then hang out there.

22. Create your own regular “business hangout,” like a copy or coffee shop where you can regularly be found working, networking, reading or connecting with other professionals.

23. Talk to everybody. Don’t sell them; don’t probe them, just make friends. Make friends with everybody. Because people buy people first.

24. Take volunteer positions with organizations that are relevant to your industry. Be a visible leader to whom others can come to for help.

25. Every time you meet someone, write the letters H-I-C-H on their business card: how I can help. Then think of five ways to do so.

26. Go to Borders and spend one day a month reading books on networking, interpersonal communication and marketing. I highly recommend The Power of Approachability and How to be That Guy. (I hear the author is super cool.)

27. Publish articles or a blog or both based around your expertise. Use titles such as “Top Ten Ways,” “Essential Elements” and “Success Secrets,” that grab the reader’s attention. Publish them onwww.blogger.com and www.ezinearticles.com.

28. Be funny, but don’t tell jokes.

29. Discover the CPI (Common Point of Interest) with everyone you meet.

30. Carry blank business cards with you in case someone forgot theirs. They’ll thank you.

31. Never leave the house without a pen and paper. Sounds dumb, right? It isn’t. It’s genius. Nobody keeps napkins with scribblings on them.

32. Every week, introduce two people you know who need to know each other.

33. Wear your nametag above your breastbone and make sure it’s visible from 10 feet away. Nobody cares what side of your chest it’s on. Just make it big. And if you don’t like wearing nametags, then you probably don’t like people knowing who you are, either.

34. It’s not who you know – it’s who knows you.

35. People will like you the minute they figure out how they are like you.

36. Fear not to entertain strangers for by so doing some may have entertained angels unaware. (Hebrews, 13:2)

37. If you don’t have www.yourname.com, get it. It’s ten bucks.

38. Find local professionals with whom you share common interests, customers, ideas and products. Introduce yourself to them, get together, share ideas and find ways to help each other.

39. Form a mastermind group. No more than four people. Meet regularly to set goals, keep each other accountable and brainstorm.

40. Also, set your own networking goals each month for:

• Events to attend
• People to meet
• Emails to write
• Calls to make
• Articles/physical mail to send

41. Go onto Google and type in “articles on networking.” Read on!

42. Speaking of Google, Google yourself regularly. Find out what people are saying about you. If you don’t show up, you’re in trouble.

43. If you think you don’t need to network, you are right. You don’t need to network: you must network!

44. Stop calling it networking. Ignore the title of this article. Networking – as a word – is tired and old and cliché and it makes people think you’re throwing around a bunch of cards trying to sell, sell, sell. No. All you’re doing is making friends. Not schmoozing, mingling or any of those stupid catch phrases. You’re making friends. That’s it. Friends. Make them every day.

45. If you think you are poor at networking, don’t worry. You’re not alone. But also remember that anyone can develop their networking skills. That’s right, skills. Because it’s not something you’re born with or just plain “good at.” Anyone can do it effectively. You simply need:

• To develop the attitude of approachability
• To read books on the subject
• To practice

46. When strangers ask, “How are you?” don’t say fine. You’re not fine. Nobody’s fine. Give a real answer that’s memorable and magnetic. I suggest, “Business is kicking ass!” or “Everything is beautiful!”

47. When someone asks where you’re from, don’t just say “Austin.” Use the H.O.T technique: “Oh, I’m from Austin, home of the best college football team in the country.” Get creative. Get unique. Watch what happens.

48. Put your person before your profession. Your personality before your position. Your individual before your industry.

49. Don’t be different – be unique. Don’t be friendly – be approachable. And don’t be memorable – be unforgettable.

50. Think about the last five “luckiest” business contacts you encountered. Figure out what you did right, realize that there is no such thing as luck, then repeat as often as possible.

Scott Ginsberg, aka “The Nametag Guy,” is the author of seven books and writes the #39th most popular marketing blog in the world. He is the creator of NametagTV, an Online Training Network that teaches businesspeople about approachability. For more info about books, speeches, customized online training programs or to Rent Scott’s Brain, call 314/256-1800 or email scott@hellomynameisscott.com.

You may be aware that I launched the Speakers’ Community a membership site in early November. I offered 60 days for free until the end of Dec ’07 to give folks an opportunity to experience the value of the Community and if satisfied then $49 a month would be debited automatically from their account.

I worked hard to offer instant valuable bonuses as well as a Community Listing in the directory which is open to the public and to the members to find one another.

I invited guest experts each month onto the monthly teleclass and recorded the conversation to add to the library. Additionally the Inner Marketing Circle once a month has been inspiring and with lots of coaching happening and the replay is archived.

I thought I was giving great value for $49 a month. Afterall, a teleclass call charge might be $49-$99 and one on one coaching could be $250 an hour plus a listing in the Community Directory. At least that was my thinking.

And yesterday I heard a voice saying add more value. So here’s what I did. I added 13-14 audio/mp3 recordings all of which I had created in the past year and began the Audio/MP3 Library page for the members.

Here’s a partial list of the recordings in the Library.

- SUPER STRUCTURE and BRANDING, Jack Barnard

- COMMUNION, COMFORT & CONNECTION, Jack Barnard

- THE BUSINESS OF SPEAKING: CREATE A WINNING MARKETING STRATEGY, Susan Levin

- RUN YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE HELP OF A VIRTUAL ASSISTANT, Terry Green

- MARKETING: WEB 2.0 STYLE: Turn Your Intellectual Assets Into Internet Profits, Michelle Price

- INCREASE YOUR INCOME BY CREATING AND SELLING INFORMATION PRODUCTS, Susan Levin & Patsy Bellah

- PLUG and PLAY PROFITS: Convert Your Passion into Blockbuster Audio CDs Rob Schultz

- GET YOUR BOOK WRITTEN and PUBLISHED, Jean-Noel Bassior

- PRODUCE & PUBLISH STREAMING AUDIO & VIDEO USING AUDIOACROBAT, Dave Barrett, Owner of AudioAcrobat

- GET BOOKED AT COLLEGES, James Malinchak

- ONE SHEETS, Sheryl Roush

- SPEAK ON CRUISE SHIPS, Daniel Hall and here is the recording for you to listen to.

What is the value now? Priceless!

Here’s the point of my sharing this with you. I had all of this information already created in various places ie: my file cabinet, on various web pages and you probably do too.

In thinking back to this past May when we did the Speakers’ Summit I visioned doing a blog and a membership site and a TeleSummit based on the Speakers’ Summit all realized now. However, I remember thinking how I could repurpose and reprogram much of the material and I did it yesterday.

Here’s the good news I still have lots more to repackage including videos mp4′s and I will be adding that to the Speakers’ Community Library.

After the New Year we are offering 30 days for free for the Speakers’ Community however, once you join you have access to the library, the live teleclasses and the Inner Marketing Circle with me and a guest each month plus you can post your own profile in the Community Directory.

BTW: In January TJ Walker will be my guest for the monthly teleclass interview and he will be talking about how content is the king/queen and how you can repackage and reprogram your content into books, tips for your blog and so much more.

You can be on the call if you sign up for the Speakers’ Community!

Hey and if you don’t get the added value you can cancel your subscription.

I would enjoy hearing your comments. Please offer them.

This last week has been a whirlwind for us as we spent 4 days at the International Coaches Federation Conference as exhibitors. There were 1,600 coaches attending from 30 or more countries. We talked to lots of coaches who were interested in learning how to grow their business and income though speaking.

Here I am in front of our new banner. And it really worked. People actually stopped and read it and asked for more information.

Here are a few friends and clients that stopped by to say hello.

This is Otto Siegel

This is Lorenda Phillips

We left the ICF Conference and shot 15 speakers on Sunday at the Video Demo Showcase. Here’s a photo of Angie Milhous (not a very good photo) and you see her in front of the audience.

This weekend we are doing the Authors’ SpeakEasy Workshop and then it is my birthday. I am going to the Oaks in Ojai, CA for a well deserved rest.

Oh, I forgot to mention the Speakers’ Community membership site is up and running and our first teleclass in November 12, with 2 time author and speaker Chellie Campbell who will be talking about how to create a 6 figure income by sitting at home.

You can join us for the teleclass if you join the Speakers’ Community. It’s free for 60 days until the end of the year. Not only that you can post your listing in the Community Directory.

Here’s TJ Walker weighing in on How to Prepare for A Major Speech You Must give In the Next 24 Hours

On no! You have to give a big speech on major trends facing your business and industry to a large group of important people tomorrow! In less than 24 hours! And you haven’t started preparing yet.

What do you do?

Step one. Spend one hour with a colleague or two brainstorming major themes and ideas you’d like to discuss. Try to write down as many themes as you can in one sentence or less. Don’t debate these themes and don’t flesh them out. Don’t analyze or criticize. Just blurt out and write down as many interesting ideas you can think of that relate to your area of expertise and that would also be of interest to your audience.

Step two. After the first hour, stop brainstorming and start analyzing your themes. Scratch off ideas that are boring. Remove topics that have already received lots of news coverage. Eliminate glaringly obvious points. Strike off messages you have mixed feelings about. You may have started with 20 or even 30 message points. But don’t stop this process until you’ve narrowed your messages down to five. Limit yourself to 45 minutes here.

Step three. Write your five messages down in bullet points on a single sheet of paper. Next, say your messages out loud. How does it feel? Don’t worry about wording yet; you’re just looking for a broad architecture for you speech at this point.

Step four. Write down one concrete example for each message point and create a new outline with these examples.

Step five. Stand up and give your speech (preferably while being videotaped). At this point, your speech might be short (5 to 10 minutes), that’s OK. Don’t worry about length yet.

Step six. Either review the tape or get feedback from colleagues. Focus only on what you like at this point. What examples stood out that were interesting and memorable?

Step seven. Now, and only now, begin to think about time/length of your speech. Is your speech going to be 10 minutes long or 60 minutes long? Simply insert more and more examples for each message point until you have the right amount for your total time. (FYI, you can never have too many examples if they are interesting and relevant to your audience.)

Step eight. Make sure you have a simple, clean and easy-to-read outline that is entirely on one page of paper. Make the font so large that you can read it without having to pick up the paper and hold it close to your eyes.

Step nine. Rehearse the speech one more time. You are now ready for the speech.

Step ten. Get a good night’s sleep.

This entire process (minus sleep) should only take about 4-5 hours.

Additional Tips:

- Resist the urge to add more message points.
- Resist the urge to add more numbers and facts.
- Resist the urge to revise, add, and edit PowerPoint slides.
- Resist the urge to write out your speech word-for word.

At the Speakers’ Summit this past May I took a survey asking the attendees if they would be open to a membership site and I received an astounding YES.  The question was- how could we stay connected with each other and keep on learning virtually? None of us wanted the Summit to end-as it was rich with information and bonding.  Hence the Speakers’ Community website was born.  It took 6 months to build the Speakers’ Community Membership Site and I  announced it a week ago. Have you seen it yet?

It does not take the place of our online directory www.speakerservices.com which brings speakers and authors together with audiences. However, what it does offer is a community of like-minded individuals who want to shave years off their learning curve and gain access to the marketing secrets that work for the pros. Another perk, is to post your listing in the Community Directory which is open to the public as well as among members. Who knows someone might want your services!

So my marketing strategy is to give folks a trial run, offer them instant bonuses, access to the teleclasses and the Community Directory for 60 days until the end of the ’07. After that it is $49. You can Join Now.

The response has been great-not 100 or 200 sign ups however, 25 for the first week makes me happy. Folks are slowly posting their listings so keep checking back at at the Speakers’ Community Site to see who you might want to connect with and or perhaps you might join us for a teleclass. The first one is November 12 with Chellie Campbell, How to Make a 6 Figure Income Without Leaving Home. You need to join to have access to the teleclasses but what the heck-give us a try!

Other topics that I will be interviewing our experts about will be on Book Marketing, Sponsorship, Presentation Skills, Web 2.0-Social Networking, Media and more…

See ya at the Speakers’ Community.

Susan Levin

The MediaSpeak Symposium was a great success. Here’s a few comments.

Pitching to live producers was an experience needed to jumpstart the process to demystify the experience.
- Cindy Kludt, Grief Counselor, Author

Susan and Jack created an amazing learning situation with a variety of media experts.
- Laurie Hacking, Coach, Author

The MediaSpeak Symposium provides authors, entrepreneurs and business experts with the confidence and tools to obtain the interviews and globally promote their products and services.
-Craig Nabat, Entrepreneur

Terrific 3 days to actually test out the methods. The Symposium was a tremendous experience. It really helped me to put everything in prospective.
- Aubrey Fine, Professor, Author

Dr. Fran Pastoria and Aubrey Fine practice their pitch

Marlin Keesler pitching his book to Dr. Meg Haworth

Pitching to Nita Vallens, Inner Visions, KPFK FM

Today’s post is all about how speaking can lead to more business by Jeff Wolf written for Rain Today. Before we get to the post I want to share some of our services with you. I think you will agree after reading the following article that it is helpful to have training.

Speaker Services, my business offers lots of training for developing presentations as well as a marketing venue through our online paid listing service to get your message out to the public. E-mail me at speakerservices@ca.rr.com and request the guidelines for getting listed. BTW: We have been in business since 1992.

Yesterday I posted several video testimonials from the Speakers’ Summit

When you have a moment please take a look at what our clients are saying about our training. The Summit is offered once a year in May.

The Speakers’ Bootcamp is another opportunity to work with us. This is offered 3 times a year and is a five day intensive. Next time will be March 26-30 and we only take 20 people. If you are interested in seeing how we coach our folks contact me and I can send you a short instructional mp4 video for viewing. Oh yes, I have a 60 minute audio Q & A on the Speakers’ Bootcamp page that you can download and listen to at your leisure.

The Speakers’ Community Membership Site is coming along and I will be telling you more about it in the very near future and offering you 30 days for free to check us out. You can read more about my intentions if you click on the ink above that says Speakers’ Community.

I want to remind you that being media savvy plays a big part of your speaking practice. That is way we always include media training in all of our trainings. The 3rd MediaSpeak Symposium is scheduled for October 11, 12 & 13. I encourage you to check it out and to attend. This event is for anyone who has a service, product or book who desires more exposure via the media. Reminder: Early registration fee by Sept 1 and save $150.

I welcome your comments please send them my way.

Okay Jeff Wolf take it away. Speaking Your Way To More Business
You are trying to build your book of business. With the competition getting nimbler and more aggressive, it hasn’t been easy. Clients are unfaithful, yet they’re demanding more of your time. You have tried to be a consultative business developer, working on building relationships. You’ve been trying to do as much as you can with limited time.

One way to improve your business development — for yourself, your firm, and your colleagues — is to get out there and give a talk to a roomful of people. Presenting your positions shows you as an expert, or, better, the expert, in your area of specialty. Speaking to a captive audience allows you to make your points and deliver your strongest messages. The crowd will hang on your every word. You are the authority everyone came to see and hear.

If you do it well, you’ll find this form of business development is incredibly successful. It attracts new clients. You become a people magnet. They’ll walk up to you, engage you in conversation, slip you their business cards and say, “Please call me.” Translation: “I like your message and think you are the type of professional with whom I want to do business.” The calls and emails will continue for several weeks as word of mouth spreads through the business community.

Sadly, most speaking opportunities end up wasted. All that worry about the presentation, the pressure of the prep work and, at last, the performance, result in an empty-handed return to the office.  But you can come back with a list of potential clients who are excited about working with you and your firm. As a professional speaker and presentation skills coach, I have seen many service providers speak in front of audiences over and over. Most have no clue how to give their audiences a motivating and memorable experience.

A Golden Opportunity Wasted

I recently gave a keynote address in Los Angeles and, prior to my talk; the association had a lawyer give the membership a legal update. His thirty-minute monologue of facts and figures, presented in a droning, monotone voice while leaning on the podium, was a disaster. I watched in disbelief as a golden opportunity to connect with the audience slipped away, second by second. Every two or three minutes, groups of people got up and walked out.

Flabbergasted, I watched an audience of over 500 people, previously excited to be there, shrink by about 50%. When the speaker finally finished, he garnered a smattering of half-hearted applause – mostly because he had finished. The emcee thanked him and asked, diplomatically, if we could all take a 10-minute break — so they could regroup everyone for the next presentation – mine.

This is one of many sad examples of service providers wasting not only their own valuable time, but also the audience’s valuable time while leaving a bad impression in the minds of 500 potential clients. When I talk with service providers who have just given a presentation, they usually think they have done a tremendous job. Yet, no one comes up afterward or they never receive any calls or emails from the members of the audience. They then tell me, “Speaking is a waste of time and it just doesn’t generate business.” My answer to these providers is very simple and straightforward: “If you give a great speech, business will follow.”

The Key To Success

If you are going to be a presenter, the expert, the font of wisdom, you must remember one central fact. It’s not about you. It’s about them, the audience, the listeners, and people who are investing their precious morning, afternoon, or evening to hear and see you.

They listen intently with one question in mind: what’s in it for me? They want to be engaged by your personality and passion for your subject matter. If you are passionate about your topic, your listeners will become excited about it, too. If you deliver your message with enthusiasm, voice variance, and convincing inflections, staying clear of the podium and employing dramatic body language, you will become a people magnet.

That podium puts a wall between you and the audience. Ditch it and connect with the people you want to win over. Don’t let the podium be a barrier – that just tells those folks you’re nervous and uncertain. Remember, you’re the expert. You know your material frontwards, backwards, and inside-out. Come out in the open and be open. Stand tall and confident. Connect. Smile and use a tone of voice that makes people feel good.

Here’s something to take to heart. A famous UCLA study on communication found that:

• 55% of communication is body language
• 38% is tone of voice
• 7% is the actual words

A Success Story

Last year, I spoke at an event attended by over 700 people from companies large and small. After my speech, I sat in on a couple of workshops. One was a presentation by an attorney to about 75 people. A podium stood at the front of the room, but she didn’t go near it. Instead, she walked from side to side and up and down a few rows. Why? To connect with her audience. She carried herself with poise and dignity, and was passionate about her subject. Everyone could see that she knew her stuff and was well-prepared.

She gave her talk with energy, passion, and style. When it was over, I counted 25 people who went up to her and handed her their cards, saying they were interested in speaking further with her. After the room emptied, and while she was packing up her things, I walked up to her and introduced myself. We talked about how her presentations were generating new business for her firm and the self-evident benefits for herself.

She said she had been doing approximately eight to ten presentations a year. Each year, her speaking had led to increased revenues. We shared a knowing laugh when I told her our consulting firm has seen the same results.

When I asked her what the key to her success was, she said, “Most lawyers think it is a waste of time to speak because they don’t want to make the effort to practice. Most of my colleagues have the attitude that it is always about them but, in the real world outside of law, it is all about the needs of the audience. That’s why I continue to speak and keep growing my practice at an unbelievable rate each year.”

Thank you Jack, and fellow booties for helping me dump outdated thoughts, feelings and behaviors and claiming the resourced communicator within!
- Doreen Van Leeuwen, LMFT

The Bootcamp is truly a transformational experience. Jack’s generosity with his skills, knowledge and talents helps everyone make gigantic strides in their speaking abilities.
- Raul Martinez, Mortgage Planner

Jack and Barbara

Betty and Barbara

Bootcamp was indeed an experience. It met my expectations and more. I left with an incredible brand and identified a plan and process for developing speeches and seminars.
- Betty LaMarr, Executive Coach

Jack is the Wizard of Oz for speakers. Every person had a profound transformation and walked away with marketable branding and a solid speech foundation. Thank you Jack, for your heart and soul. We’ll take part of you with us out into the world.
- Barbara Niven, Actress, Writer, Director, Speaker

Darryl

I asked God to bring people into my life that can help me reach others struggling with addictions. I truly believe Jack has moved me to the front of line.
- Darryl Hagar, Merchant Marine Officer, Author

The depth and practicality of this 5-day Bootcamp was as inmpactful as Jack’s passion and personal genius for his topic. Thank you for setting me up as a speaker and helping me create our brand.
- Otto Siegel, Genius Coach, Author

Jack takes us to our growing edge and pushes us beyond it.
- Rik Isensee, Author, Therapist

I had an eye opening experience. Jack is the master coach of masters.
- Roy Brown, Speaker

January Jones

The Booties 8/07

What a great group of folks

Angie and Marlin

In 5 days Jack unraveled and untangled 20 years of insecurities. He took me on a journey into authenticity which (to my surprise) revealed an inner strength that I didn’t know was available.
- Angie Milhous, Speaker, Change Your B.S.

Jack has the unique ability to quickly identify, understand, extract and teach his students the true messages they most desire to speak about… The Speakers’ Bootcamp was the perfect forum to obtain the necessary skills to learn the magic of speaking.
- Marlin Keesler, Author, Our Life on the Run

Susan (me) talking about marketing yoursef as a speaker

Jack teaching

Jack and Carlos

Welcome to Market Yourself as a Speaker blog. Dedicated to sharing information with business folk and authors who are interested in using speaking as a way to grow their business.

I am Susan Levin a marketing consultant for speakers and authors. I was one of the first 1500 people to have a website in 1994. I have assisted thousands of people with their speaking careers for the past 15 yrs.

www.speakerservices.com is my website which brings speakers and audiences together. Unlike a speaker bureau I do not take commissions however, I do charge a fee to be listed on our site and all the calls go directly to the speakers and they do their own bookings. I feel that given the opportunity to speak to a group of 10-100 is a blessing and a terrific way to attract business.

Speaking is a business and like any business it must be nutured.

In addition to the online directory I offer conferences, symposiums and summits plus video demo showcases.

I have a fantastic team of folks who I work with and I refer to them all the time.

Our E-Zine is archived on my website for the past 5-6 years. It offers great articles and tips and advice as well as leads.

Next time I will share some marketing tips with you.