Speaker Services E-Zine, February 2012

http://www.speakerservices.com

Serving the community since 1992

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

Content:

- Note from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice

- Tweets & Blog Posts of Interest

Greetings,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

310-822-4922 PT

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Introducing  Speaker & Author

Julie Orlov

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

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

See all of our Speakers and Authors

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In the Speakers Community for February

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

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

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


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

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

Are you ready for Mobile Marketing?


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

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

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TIPS/ADVICE/RECOMMENDATIONS

RECOMMENDATION:

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

Excerpt: Inspiration 91

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

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

Get his free newsletter weekly with leads. Recent leads.

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

and

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

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Ideas for building a platform — Alyson Stanfield

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

Among my favorites of the 97 ideas:

9. It is hard to create consistently without inspiration.

26. AUDIO is the secret to better video.

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

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

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

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

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Three trends that change business: Mobile, Social and Cloud

Post in Forbes by Maribel Lopez

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

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

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APPLE UNVEILS iBOOKS AUTHOR, Dan Poynter

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://bit.ly/xZiqco

http://bit.ly/wESv9M

http://bit.ly/wnIGm2

http://bit.ly/AjN0r3

One more tip from Dan Poynter

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KINDLE PUBLISHER TOOLS WITH KF8 AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD NOW

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

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

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

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

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

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TWEETS OF INTEREST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Marketing & Training Services since’92

http://www.speakerservices.com

Speaker Services E-Zine 1/4/12

CONTENT:

-  Note and Update from Susan Levin

- One Sheets Made Easy, Special Offer for 2012

- New Speakers & Authors

- Tips & Advice

- 10 Questions to Book More Business

- Workshops and Teleclasses

Greetings,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

To your speaking and marketing success.

Susan Levin
Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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New Speakers and Authors:

See all featured speakers:

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

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

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

See all speakers and authors

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A Gift for YOU

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

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

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

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10 Questions to Book More Business by Lois Creamer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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WORKSHOPS in Los Angeles

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read more/register

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

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

 Here’s what will be covered:

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

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

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

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

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

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UPCOMING TELELCLASSES

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY

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

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

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

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

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

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TWEETS & POSTS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

October 20,  2011 – Speaker Services Update

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

Speaker Services http://www.speakerservices.com

In this issue
- Note from Susan Levin
- News from our colleagues & friends

I am preparing to attend Maurice DiMino’s Presentations that Sell Bootcamp in Los Angeles the next few days.  In this Bootcamp the attendees learn how to craft a talk and once they have it together they are challenged to connect with audiences.  Here’s where I come in. Maurice invited me to have a vendor table  as I am a great resource for the attendees. I am looking forward to connecting with them tonight at dinner and over the weekend.

I just downloaded Seth Godins latest book We Are All Weird.  Jacqueline Novogratz wrote a terrific review of the book.  We Are All Weird is a song of freedom, an exuberant manifesto with the richness of choice that comes with wealth, the markets, the internet, our increasing connection with one another across the globe. He argues that the era of mass marketing is over (thankfully) and that as humans we seek not just to consume but to connect, and therefore we find those who love what we love and, when it works best, create or join tribes. We are allowed, indeed, encouraged to be individuals, to specialize rather than fit in or be normal and this is where richness begins. As Seth says, Stuff is not the point. Connection, choice, pursuing what we love is.  BTW:  It was only $2.99!

Are you a speaker, expert, author, coach or entrepreneur attempting to connect with audiences who want to hear your message?

Have you considered adding speaking to your marketing plan?

Do you know how to monetize your speaking gigs?

Would you like one-one coaching with a marketing expert? http://www.speakerservices.com/marketing.html

Are you attempting to find gigs on your own and not getting a response from the event planner?

Would you like to know the names of the decision makers in the college and association and corporate markets?

Maybe you need a coach to assist you in branding and helping you put your talks together?

Wondering how to get a great video(s) for your website and social media?

Speaker Services team can assist you.

Whether you are a beginning speaker or further  along the path our agency can customize a package to fit your needs.

Here are some options for you to consider:

CONNECT WITH AUDIENCES via Speaker Services online paid listing directory brings speakers together with audiences since 1992.   We connect you with audiences that you might not find on your own.  We reach out to 5,000 event planners every month who are searching for experts for their audiences. See http:www.speakerservices.com

INVEST IN A WORKSHOP

Saturday, October 29, Market Yourself as a Speaker, Susan Levin in Marina del Rey http://bit.ly/pxk58a

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

Immediate Benefits:

- Design a masterful presentation package that attracts meeting planners to hire you

- Create your one-sheets, introductions and rating forms

- Customize your programs with pre-program questionnaires and more

Monday, November 7, Speak Your Way to More Clients, Capistrano Beach with Ursula Mentjes and Susan Levin http://www.salescoachnow.com/speak-your-way-to-more-clients/

You will leave with a Proven Formula to Create the Perfect Speaking Business Plan for YOU in 2012

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Like to listen to mp3s?

SPEAKERS COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP GROUP

Join the Speakers Community Membership 60 days for free & a modest $19.95 a month.  Listen to the expert interviews live or download mp3s.

NOTE: 10/26 Complimentary teleclass

Post Do You Have Professional Marketing Materials? http://t.co/GwZ7x94o & comp teleclass 10/26 same topic register http://t.co/5JxUQ8R0

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NEWS & TIPS FROM OUR COLLEAGUES

The new frontier, Seth Godin

 http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2011/10/the-new-frontier.html

What, exactly, is wrong with the old frontier?

When Google + launched, millions of formerly optimistic people became optimistic again. Maybe this was going to be the one, the social network with just the smart people and none of the lame stuff, none of the spam or the pitches or the people we’re trying to avoid.

And the same thing is true when the pack runs to the new nightclub, the new technology, the new suburban subdivision. Maybe this will be the one…

Of course, it rarely is. So much disappointment and so much bitterness. It’s never as great as you hoped it would be. Ennui and then, eventually, waiting for yet another new frontier.

It’s the old frontier that actually presents the most interesting opportunities, because the shine has worn off. This is your platform for real innovation, innovation in a place or a market or a situation that truly is ready for it

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Need Some Marketing Inspiration? Download @HubSpot’s New eBook: 101 Marketing Quotes: http://t.co/oItXB2tn #101Quotes

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Did anyone catch our speaker and author Author Carole Lieberman on TV Sat night talking about the Michael Jackson case? She is an expert witness too. See her speaker listing http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/413

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Learn the latest trends in the world of speaker marketing 10/29 in LA w Susan Levin Market Yourself as a Speaker Wksp http://t.co/XwKiTPYQ

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New blog post How Sponsors Define Value: Vickie Sullivan, http://t.co/PSkPZsYK

Blog post Is Cold Calling Dead? 6 tips to success http://t.co/4AyLkhXz

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What our clients are saying about Speaker Services:

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

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

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

I am ready to answer all your questions and concerns and make suggestions to fit your budget and marketing plan.  E-mail me at susan@speakerservices.com for an appointment to chat.

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

310-822-4922 PT

SPEAK YOUR WAY TO MORE BUSINESS

Marketing & Training Services since 1992

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

In this issue:

- A note from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice

- Teleclasses & Workshops

- 5 Tips to Avoid Losing Your Shirt with Your Seminar

- How Sponsors Define Value

- How to Ensure a Powerful Introduction Before You Speak

- Tweets & Blog Post of Interest

Greetings,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Speak Your Way to More Business

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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TIPS & ADVICE

LinkedIn Group

Professional Keynote Speakers – by Jorge Olson

Discussion: How do you become a public speaker?

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

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

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

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

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5 Tips to Avoid Losing Your Shirt with Your Seminar

Daphne Bousquet,  http://eventstrategysolutions.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

Start small

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

Focus on your ideal attendee

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

Book your venue as late as possible

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

Allow plenty of time for marketing

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

Have a back end plan

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

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

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How Sponsors Define Value

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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How to Ensure a Powerful Introduction Before You Speak

Post by Lisa Sasevich, www.theinvisibleclose.com

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

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

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

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

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

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WORKSHOPS IN LA, ORANGE COUNTY, SAN DIEGO & ATLANTA

See all workshops

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

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

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

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

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

Learn more

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

Nuts and bolts of lecture circuit.

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

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

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Tweets & Blog Posts of interest:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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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

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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

______

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.