Speaker Services 5/6/12

http://www.speakerservices.com

The unthinkable happened to me on Thursday,  I had 75 folks registered for the free preview teleclass for Talk Up Your Book, Master the Message, Master the Marketing and my internet went down just as I got on the call.  It was very upsetting.

The good news is we are going to do it live on Monday, 5/7/12 and cross our fingers that the angel of the internet is on our side.  You can still register for it http://www.speakerservices.com/talkupyourbook

It will be followed by a five part teleclass series.  You know it is for authors and speakers?  Right?

I was inspired to create this event as I went to a book reading and this is what happened as fourteen authors read from their books.  Don’t let this happen to you. Bring your book or talk to life!

This photo was taken from the Saturday Night Live Improv Group Performance.  What a fun experience.  That is me in the red pants and our fearless leader Jack Barnard on the left with the rest of the troop.  Thanks Keri Newell for the photo.

Los Angeles friends meet me on Tuesday, May 22 in Redondo Beach,

Speak Your Way to More Income, Happy Hour, Wine Tasting, Conversation, Content Redondo Beach. Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior, Mary Lyn Miller Read more and register http://bit.ly/IfU8Zq

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Are you looking for audiences to connect with? You might want to be listed in Speaker Services directory. Click here to learn more and call me if you are interested and we will talk.  310-822-4922 PT.

Check out our featured speakers for May.

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I am building my Fan Page on FaceBook.  I am over my limit of accepting friends on my personal page.  If you care to stay in touch please head on over and like my page http://www.facebook.com/SpeakerServices

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In the Speakers Community- The membership club

Join us for 60 days complimentary http://www.speakerscommunity.com

5/17  Get Your SHIP Together – Keep Your Clients Interview with Keri Newell  learn more/register  http://bit.ly/J2cZIF

5/30, Turn Free Speaking Gigs into Big Fees, Interview with Deborah Deras learn more/registerhttp://bit.ly/J3mSpv 
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TIPS:  Word/time calculator — Sean O’Dea, from SpeakerNetNews

Words to Time Calculator http://www.edgestudio.com/words-to-time-calculator calculates how long it will take to record a script. You can tell it the number of words, or just cut-and-paste your script and it will tell you how long the recording or video will be. I find it very helpful for calculating scripts for short, time-constrained promo videos.
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Have you heard about Cash Mobs?
My friend Steve Harrison posted this in Reporter Connection. I love grassroots movements that generate publicity, and Cash Mobs are a perfect example. Have you heard of Cash Mobs? They are like flash mobs, but consist of consumers. People organize Cash Mobs to bring shoppers into small businesses in their communities. Organized via social media, Cash Mobs target bookstores, coffee bars, gift boutiques and other shops.

The Cash Mob phenomenon was created by one blogger, then spread to 170 cities in the U.S. and around the world. And, Cash Mobs have made headlines from the Wall Street Journal to CNN, ABC and NBC. Get inspired to create your own movement by checking out the Cash Mobs website. http://cashmobs.wordpress.com/

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OPRAH Casting Call
http://www.oprah.com/own/casting_calls.html

Want to be part of the OWN experience? Check out the opportunities below to see if any – or many – apply to you.

•    Do you currently live in or around Staten Island, NY?
•    Are Future In-Laws Ruining Your Wedding Plans?
•    Are you feuding with your neighbor?
•    Are You About To Become A Full Time Caregiver To Your Elderly Parent(s)? Or Are You Already The Primary Caregiver?
•    Is your marriage on the rocks?
•    Do you work in a dysfunctional workplace?
•    Are you struggling to be a good mother?
•    Have you ever been involved in an affair?
•    Do you have an idea for Lisa Ling?
•    Are you and your family facing challenges and need help?
•    Are you America’s hottest new homemaker?

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GREAT WAY TO MAKE CONNECTIONS

Now this is the way to introduce potential clients to each other.  Thanks Melissa Evans, The Guru of Implementation for the referral.  See  Melissa’s speaker listing http://bit.ly/IMXy7c and 1 sheet.

Use the following as a template.

Hi Anne,

I would love to introduce you to Susan Levin, she was fantastic with helping me prepare my speaking marketing materials and she owns a speaker listing service that has served me well.   My clients love her and she has great experience and a great heart.

Warm Regards,
Melissa
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We just finished the second training series for Virtual Assistants and Speakers for Finding and Landing Speaking Opportunities.

If you need a VA check out our resource section and see what they offer.
http://www.speakerservices.com/resources/detail/27

Here are some of the ways VA’s could support you:
-     Create PowerPoint presentations
−    Write, edit and proofread newsletters, emails, speeches, one-sheets, blogs, social media updates, and other written content
−    Maintain and distribute emails and newsletters
−    Edit and proofread ebooks
−    Prepare Excel spreadsheets; analyze data in meaningful charts and reports
−    Maintain expense reports
−    Enter contacts and maintain in database (experience includes Salesforce and ConstantContact, among others)
−    Assist with finding and coordinating arrangements for speaking engagements
−    Arrange travel and itineraries
−    Manage calendar

On the other side of hiring a VA you might just want to take the training Find and Land Speaking Opportunities which is designed for speakers, authors, experts, coaches and their assistants. While you are visiting the website see the short video I created.

It is being offered on June 23 in Los Angeles read more about the workshop http://bit.ly/IP2sEm and as a 5 part teleclass series in July, September and October.

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June 2, Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop in LA.

Learn the nuts and bolts of the speaking industry from Susan Levin.

Ceila Black, Public Relations Consultant for speakers said, Susan Levin gave me the real tools to take my clients to rock star status!   Find out more http://bit.ly/IP3r7A

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Posts and Tweets

- Blog Post How to Become an Expert: 10 Key Questions to Ask to Unlock Your Expertise http://bit.ly/J2cwGo

- See short video I made about the benefits of attending Find & Land Speaking Gigs http://bit.ly/J1F5U2 It is always a mystery!

- Helpful video Mistakes speakers often make http://youtu.be/U-vwIsXLSgo

- Are you speaking about what you are passionate about? View a short video that I created Speak Your Passion http://bit.ly/HNILLg

- Speakers Do You Have Professional Marketing Materials? What is missing from your list that will help you to be noticed? http://bit.ly/Kst0rx

- Do you or do you know a speaker, expert or author who would like to connect with audiences? Check out http://fb.me/1CkWF5123

- What would your relationships look like if u were rockin’ yr Mojo? Check out @deborahkagan #mojo180 here http://bit.ly/2012Mojo180 . Meet me there on 5/12.

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Speak your way to more business!

Susan Levin, Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

This post comes to you from Donna Gunter

Susan note: Donna is right on in her observations.  See if you relate to her comments.

Many business owners wrestle with this notion of “expertise”, feeling certain that they don’t know enough to be looked upon by anyone as an expert. I avoided that expert label as well for my first 5 or so years in business, despite being very good at what I did.  I was always comparing myself to other “experts” in the field and felt myself falling sadly short on the experience meter of what I thought an expert should be.

As I reflect back on those early years, I now have to laugh at my lack of self-confidence.  The only thing holding me back from declaring my expertise was me.  Granted, I have run into a few nay-sayers over the years who have belittled my lack of experience in their industry and refused to talk with me further because of their skewed perceptions of my abilities.  However, I’ve come to realize that many of those types of people are bogged down in their own fear, and it is easier for them to criticize others than to take any action to move themselves forward.

I also held myself back by filling my head with the “ought-tos” — someone else is doing this certain thing, and I “ought to” be doing it as well.  Or, I was encouraged by well meaning friends that I “ought to” go in this direction instead.  Or, I let myself become distracted by the BSOS (Bright Shiny Object Syndrome) and head in a direction that I would later end up regretting.
I wish I’d had someone early who could have really helped me determine my expertise in my particular industry. After many wrong turns and hitting alot of dead ends, I’ve devised this list of questions to help you determine your expertise and help you stand out from your peers.

1.  What comes easily to you? I always viewed the stuff that came easily to me as stuff that everyone knew and was good at.  I made the mistake many people make — because it comes easily to me, it must be that easy for everyone.  What comes easily to you, may, indeed come easily to others, but by and large that’s not the case. Don’t dismiss all the skills, talents, and abilities you have that seem to be innate — they are a vital key in excavating your expertise.

2.  What are you good at doing? Look at your skill set and how you spend your time.  What kinds of tasks, activities and experience are you good at doing?  Make a list of those for this discovery process.

3.  For what reasons do people ask for your help? Over the years, people have sought you out for your help and experience in certain areas.  Why did they come to you?  What did you offer to them?  What benefit did they gain by getting your help?  What results did your assistance help them achieve?

4,  What have you achieved based on what you know? Don’t overlook any of your experiences, as they may provide valuable clues to help you in this journey.  Your achievements could include awards or accolades that you’ve won, or could simply be accomplishments that you’ve achieved for yourself, your business, your life, or for your clients.

5.  What are you naturally drawn to learn? You’ve been learning all of your life, and some subjects are naturally more appealing to you.  Some are so appealing that you learn about them just because you want to — there’s no other
reward or economic payoff for you.  What kinds of information do you soak up like a sponge?

6.  What parts of your past work/volunteer experiences have been most enjoyable? We’ve all held jobs that we loved and others that we regret ever taking.  What parts of your work experiences or volunteer stints did you like the most?  Did the enjoyment come in the tasks performed or from the people with whom you worked or the environment in which you worked?

7.  What kinds of tasks do you complete in which time flies quickly? Have you found yourself doing something and before you know it several hours have passed?  Those are the kinds of tasks to note in this question.  When time passes effortlessly because you’re fully engaged, that’s a sure sign that you love whatever it is that you’re doing.

8.  What have you spent lots of money and time on getting good at? Your employer or friends or spouse may force you to spend time learning things you don’t really want to learn as a  condition of your employment or because your want to be a good friend or a supportive spouse.  Aside from those, on what do you spend your time and money to learn more about?

9.  What major obstacles have you overcome in your life? Sometimes stumbling blocks and obstacles and low points in our lives offer the greatest learning experiences. In my mid-30s I ripped apart my life and moved halfway across the country and started all over again as a single divorced woman with no job — I had only the dream of becoming self-employed.  I glossed over that part of my life and didn’t share that story for several years because I was embarrassed about my failed marriage and ashamed of the fact that I had to move back in with my mother for a short while to get back on my feet again.

It took me a long time to realize that this experience of building a new virtual businesses from my small, rural East Texas hometown using only connections made online and Internet marketing strategies wasn’t simply a survival strategy — it was an example of how I could teach others to do the same.  How can your obstacles serve as teaching moments for others?

10.  What would you be doing if money were no object? If you were to win the lottery and then do the world tour with your new-found wealth, eventually you would return home and realize that you need to be doing something to fill the endless days.  Shopping on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills like Paris Hilton is sure to grow old fast. So, how would you spend your time day-to-day?

Take Action Strategy

Your knowledge, likes and dislikes, and life experiences are all valuable keys to help you unlock your expertise.  Learn to value these experiences and realize that there are others who desperately need what you know and will benefit from
this expertise.

If you need some help in unlocking your expertise or with your online marketing, schedule a FastTrack2Clients 50-minute session with me.

Internet Marketing Coach Donna Gunter helps professional service businesses stop the client chase and create online businesses that drive clients to them. Want to learn specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your online visibility in this free ebook, Turbocharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

TALK UP YOUR BOOK

For Speaking, Interviews, Book Shinings,
Marketing, Mastering Amazon & Social Networking

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COMPLIMENTARY PREVIEW CALL  5/3/12 

register for the number

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A 5 part teleclass series

Thursdays, May 31 – June 28

4-5pm PT or 7-8pm ET

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Investment: $297

1 payment option: $297 –   Sign up now

2 payment option: 2 payments of $150 – Sign up now

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All calls recorded for later listening
Valuable handouts included!

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Do you have a book that no one knows about?  Are you wondering how to get your book noticed? Because traditional publishers no longer provide the marketing plan for authors, authors must promote themselves and market their books. Period!

To get their books out to the public — for any effective action at all — there will be networking, book signings, media interviews, speaking engagements…and marketing, marketing, marketing! Talk Up Your Book is an informative, interactive, focused five-session teleclass event specifically designed to prepare and arm you, the author, with everything you need to successfully get you — and your book — out to the public domain.

The three facilitators — Jack Barnard, Denise Cassino & Susan Levin — are recognized masters in their chosen fields…with one important thing in common: you!

Writing a book is one of the most rigorous exercises that a human can undertake. There you are, sitting alone in your private cave translating the universe one letter at a time. The process is consuming, pretentious, overwhelming. For some of us, it can take years. Wouldn’t it be great when you’re finished if someone took it out of your hands, published it and it immediately became a million seller.

For all but a tiny sliver of people it doesn’t happen this way. It may be a tough pill to swallow, but for most authors, writing the book turns out to be the easy part. Speaking about it, publicizing it, promoting it, selling it makes the writing process seem like a vacation.

But it can be the most exciting, fulfilling part of the adventure if you know what you’re doing.

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Sessions 1-3 is led by Jack Barnard

Jack is a master presentation & branding coach, a media trainer & writer: a true maverick in the business. He works with speakers, authors & entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups. His original method emphasizes the uniqueness of the individual, focusing on the permission to bring forth one’s distinctive style. jackp.barnard@verizon.net

Session #1 – May 31, The Spoken Word

Presenting your book is not about reading a few pages, it’s just as much about you, the author! And you need to be comfortable speaking about it in any format. In this session, you will learn how to communicate the core message of your book, of your authorship, of your motivation, of its value, in a sentence or two, in 30 seconds, in a minute, in speeches of any length.



And you will learn why the magic of speaking is invisible!

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Session #2 – June 7,  Media

If you want to get your book into the world, you have to master the media. As the center-post of your media campaign, you need to field all inquiries in a variety ways, in sound-bite language, long and short, tailored for any kind of situation…print, radio, TV interviews, networking, elevator speeches, etc.

In this session you will learn to identify your Niche-Pitch® and start to develop the Dirty Dozen — the top 12 questions that you would like to be asked in interview situations — and especially master the Tricky Trio (what’s your book about?, why did you write it?, what’s in it for the reader?).

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Session #3 – June 14, The Book Shining

Let’s face it, book signings are dull. Discover the Book Shining — an exciting upgrade to predictable, staid book signings.  The Book Shining is a mini event, an outrageous happening, in which the author “shines” in the eyes of the audience and creates a “shining” path for the audience to buy books.

In this session, we will also learn about Video Zingers, how and why to create a compelling video presence.

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Session #4 – June 21,  Catapult Your Book to #1 Bestseller Status on Amazon

Denise Cassino is an Internet marketing expert focusing on book promotions, Amazon bestseller campaigns and social media management.  She has launched dozens of books to #1 bestseller status on Amazon and offers customized plans to meet her clients’ needs and budgets.  Her services include improving and creating a social networking program, optimizing Amazon, securing cross promoters and building websites along with utilization of other Internet marketing tools. 

http://www.bestsellerservices.com

Denise Cassino says, There’s never been a better time to launch your writing career or take your book to the next level:  Monetizing through public speaking, workshops, CD sets and teleseminars. This can provide an additional source of income when properly utilized.

In this session you’ll learn:

- Affordable ways to launch your e-book to #1 Bestseller on Amazon and Kindle!

- To reach a large targeted audience without the expense of advertising

- Why it’s a win-win situation for the author, the cross-promoters and the book buyer.

- 
How to create your launch page
 & drive visitors to it

- How social media plays a role in the campaign

- Why you should participate in others’ bestseller campaigns

- Build your mailing list as you require visitors opt in to your list in order to get your bonus

- Put your product into visitors hands


- Effective Networking


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Session #5 – June 28 Session 5 – Social Media Networking with Susan Levin & Denise Cassino


Discover how to use LinkedIn & Twitter to promote your book 
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!


- Build your business with targeted 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


- Master LinkedIn Groups to build influential connections


- Create Twitter accounts and build a targeted following


- Connect by keeping your pipeline full of information

- Make Connections  Search for authors in your genre, publishers, you will meet people you want to connect with in groups


- Get introduced to famous authors and ask for testimonials

Susan Levin is owner & founder of Speaker Services. She is an International Marketing Consultant for speakers & authors. Speaker Services is a Full-Service Coaching, Marketing & Training for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Entrepreneurs & Business Professionals.  We bring speakers and authors together with audiences since 1992 . http://www.speakerservices.com

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Series – 5 Thursdays, May 31 – June 28

4-5pm PT or 7-8pm ET

Investment: $297

1 payment option: $297    Sign up now

2 payment option: 2 payments of $150  Sign up now

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A Speaker Services production.

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

Excellent post from our friends at Hub Spot

There are thousands of conferences every year, and thousands of opportunities for attendees, exhibitors, speakers and conference planners to benefit from these events. However, most of these chances are lost in the chaos of an event and the post-conference wrap-up. In fact, according to a study done by SiriusDecisions, 80% of companies don’t even follow up with leads after a trade show.

So what can be done to make sure you get the most out of an event, whether you are attending, part of the conference, or throwing the event? This post will break down the ways everyone can squeeze every last ounce of ROI out of in-person events.

If  You are an Attendee
Attendees go to events to learn how to do their jobs better. They want to hear from thought leaders, make new connections, and walk away from events more valuable to their company. Here’s how you can do that if you’re attending an event.

1) Meet everyone you can.
When people think about attending an event, one of the first things they think of is the networking possibilities. And for good reason! You could meet a future co-worker, boss, mentor, or just a plain ol’ smart person there.

But networking is much easier said than done. If you’re not sure where to start, begin with the basics — just ask what company they are from and what their job is. Then move on to talking about projects in progress that might be interesting based on what your roles have in common. Close out the conversation by asking if you could keep in touch for the future, and explain how they would benefit from the relationship.

Not everyone carries business cards anymore, but don’t let that stop you from asking for one to make staying in touch easier. Then after your conversation closes, jot down some notes on the back of their business card so that you remember the highlights of your conversation and can follow up in a meaningful way once you get home.

2) Get exposure to other companies.
It isn’t enough just to hear executives at companies speak; you should network with the companies who are similar to you. In fact, sometimes it is more helpful to talk to people who have the same positions in other companies than to talk to head honchos or speakers. Meeting others who are in the same shoes as you can be helpful to learn what tactics they are using, how they manage up, and what their businesses are doing to succeed. This provides the opportunity to learn from their struggles and triumphs and even see how competitors compare to your company.
LinkedIn

Events is a great resource to consult before attending events so you can do some recon work to see who will be attending events, and learn about their current positions, work history, and network connections. You should also plan in advance what types of questions you want to ask and who in the company you want to meet. That way you are prepared for conversations, and have some ideas about how these encounters can turn into co-marketing opportunities!

3) Learn how to improve your business from the speakers.
Conference sessions, especially those that present case studies, offer fantastic, actionable ideas about how to improve your business. If slides are used, request the presentations from the speaker or conference organizer so you can bring them back to your office after the event; this will help you better listen, think, and ask questions during the presentation instead of scrambling to take notes. You should also sit as close to the front as possible so you can ask the speaker questions after the presentation. Speakers plan to stay after the presentation for this reason, so take advantage of it!

4) Make the lessons you learn actionable.
It’s easy to waste money on events if you don’t have a goal in mind about what you want to achieve from your attendance. Before you go to an event, set that goal — it could be making 5 new connections for business development opportunities, growing your opt-in email list, or even finding a new employee. As you go to the sessions, sponsor areas, and networking events, keep your eye on the ball to achieve that goal, and take notes on what actions you will take when you get back to the office. Then, you know, do it. And don’t forget to share what you learned with your co-workers, too — at HubSpot, we frequently put together short presentations for our weekly meetings to share what we learned at the events we attended.

5) Set new goals based on what you learned at the event.
One of the reasons events are so great is the opportunity to learn about new topics and subjects. When HubSpotters attend events, for example, we get excited to learn about new advancements in traditional media, or growing fields like mobile marketing and location based services. So when you hear mention of something new at events, set a task for yourself to learn more about the topic. This could mean taking courses, reading the latest books and online publications. or networking with a thought leader that you met at the event. The lessons you learn should not stop once the conference concludes!

If You’re an Exhibitor
When a company sponsors an event, there’s immense pressure to demonstrate the return on their investment. That may mean getting more customers or simply getting their company logo out to others. Here’s how event sponsors can get more out of their event sponsorship.

1) Measure event ROI.
To demonstrate the ROI of an event, you need to set a goal and figure out how you want to measure it. Let’s say your goal is to sell $5000 worth of your product. Figure out how much that means you need to make each day, and keep track of every sale you make.

Or perhaps you are looking to gather email addresses; do something similar by setting a goal of how many email addresses you would like to get from the event, and map out how many you would need to get each day. Having the goals and measurements laid out beforehand helps guide your activities at the event, and prove the ROI of your sponsorship to your boss.

2) Generate leads and customers.
Events are the perfect opportunity to meet new people and talk to potential customers about your company. You may close a deal on the spot, you may not — it depends on the nature of your business. Just focus on meeting new people and getting your company information in front of them.

But how can you break through the clutter at events to get their attention? Do something interactive, that’s how. That may mean holding a live contest in your booth area, hosting a demonstration of your product, or giving away services for free that you would normally charge for. If you are able to get potential customers so excited about your product or service that they are still thinking about it by the end of the trade show, you are successful.

3) Meet other businesses to work with.
Great partnerships can be built at conferences. It only takes one event to kindle a beneficial relationship for two parties. Checking the list of other companies attending before an event can be a great way to plan for these meetings and be truly successful.

Research who you want to meet at the event and dive into the nitty gritty of their companies so you’re prepared for your conversations. You can try to coordinate beforehand to have a meeting onsite, but if that doesn’t work, prepare questions and/or proposals of projects you could work on together. If you are prepared, you will be able to quickly get their attention and cultivate great partnerships.

4) Get exposure to people you wouldn’t otherwise meet.
You often have a lot of contact with people who are in the same city or state as yourself. Conferences provide an opportunity to meet others from all over the country or even all over the world. When you are preparing for your booth, don’t have activities, entertainment, or materials specific to one region of the country; make it applicable to anyone who may be attending the conference. For example, just because you are having a conference in Boston doesn’t mean you need to give away Boston related items or talk about locations in Boston!

If You’re a Speaker
Speakers want to spread knowledge about their work and advance their career. They may also want to promote themselves or their company to gain more clout and a larger following. Here’s how speakers can get the most out of attending events.

1) Work on increasing your LinkedIn following.
Growing your network is an important part of advancing your career. In today’s world, that means not growing your rolodex, but your LinkedIn following. Connect with people before the event who you are interested in meeting, and after the event to keep in touch with those you networked with. As a speaker, many people will want to get in touch with you after, and they will turn to LinkedIn to make this happen — so make sure your profile is comprehensive and up-to-date. During your presentation, encourage people to write a personalized note when they connect with you to help you remember when you met them.

2) Promote your content.
Often, speakers at events are also authors. If you fall in this camp, consider events a sort of book tour to promote your content. Look for conferences around the country that are directed at the best target market for your book, and even consider giving copies of your book away for free.

If you’re not a book author, you’re probably still a content creator (or someone in your company is). Make sure your best content — your blog, ebooks, whitepapers, etc. — get some visibility. If you’ve written about a topic you’re covering in your talks in an ebook, for example, include a mention of it in your presentation, and include a QR code that links to that ebook so attendees can read it when the event winds down.

3) Meet other influential speakers.
Chances are there are many other great speakers at your event — take advantage of your “speaker status” to meet them! You may also have a free pass to a conference because you are a speaker; make the most of that opportunity by going to other sessions, introducing yourself to the speakers afterwards, and forming a bond with them based on the fact that you’re both speakers.

If they’ve been asked to speak, they’re likely influential people with great networks; you can talk to them about future speaking engagements, guest blogging opportunities, and connect with them on social media to really leverage that great reach.

4) Use your platform to achieve business goals.
Speaking will get your company more visibility, so use it to advance your business goals — brand awareness, recruiting, co-marketing, whatever it is! At the end of your presentation, tell people how to find you and your company. That might be a job posting, company page, Twitter account or landing page to gather more information from the people in the audience. If you are discreetly touting your product or service, be sure to talk about real customers and their results so attendees see how their problems can be solved (using your company, of course!)

If You’re the Event Host
As the event host, you’re going to get the most out of the conference by making it go off without a hitch, which means you’re constantly running around taking care of details and coordinating resources. That also means you need to have superhero planning skills to make sure everything is in place beforehand — employees, the press, your social media plan, etc. Here are the things you should set in place to ensure your conference is a success.

1) Plan for PR coverage
Part of having a successful event is inviting the media and working with them on various articles so your event gets the publicity it deserves. Make a list of journalists and publications who you think would be good fits to write about your event. Send them personal invitations, and waive the cost of attending the event. Give them exclusives with your executives and others in the company they are interested in speaking with.

Planning for this in advance will make it easier to get more PR coverage before, during, and after the event, plus it will help build great relationships with journalists. Make sure others on your team have done proper research on the media who will be coming to the event and can represent your company well.

2) Bring your company together to execute the event.
Events are the time to bring together your entire company together to help the conference be successful. Every department should be there — from marketing and sales employees to developers and consultants. Your sales team should put their powers to good use helping to sell your products/services; give them a conference specific discount code to use, especially if it helps them close deals on site. Your product team (if applicable) should be available to help answer technical questions that may be difficult for others to answer. Your marketing team and consultants should be there to network with customers and find out what makes them happy or unhappy, and to identify partnership opportunities.

Because you’ll be busy during the event, make people self sufficient. Appoint a few point persons to answer questions for employees, and provide guides that help answer common questions you people ask over and over throughout the day — like if we have any extra batteries, for example. Yes, we do, they’re with the technology point person, and your employees know that because it’s on their event guide!

3) Prepare for social sharing at the event.
Almost every event has people tweeting and posting their thoughts and opinions to social networks. Come up with a hashtag for your event that everyone can use. It’s a great way to see all of the feedback from the event in one place and also connect attendees to each other as another way to network. Put the hashtag on conference materials to ensure that everyone not only know about it, but is using the same hashtag.

4) Don’t forget about career growth for yourself.
Planning an event is a huge undertaking. It takes a lot of organization, attention to detail, leadership skills and management skills to execute successfully. Even though an event planner cannot always attend the sessions, network with attendees, or ask speakers questions, their career and reputation benefits tremendously if they pull it off. Be sure to take pictures throughout the event for documentation, favorite complimentary social media tweets (and those with great feedback, too!), and update your LinkedIn profile to show that you pulled off organizing a great event!

Post by Lois Creamer,
www.bookmorebusiness.com

You know from earlier posts that I consider you to be much more than a speaker. I consider you to be in the intellectual property business. Meaning, we get paid when we deliver (in whatever way) what it is that we know.  It’s all about delivering your expertise.

Your first revenue stream is, of course, your speaking fee. It is the one where you make the most profit. But it shouldn’t be your only revenue stream.
Products really add to the bottom line. Make a live recording of your speech. Sell it as a CD or MP3 file. People love this kind of product!

Write a book. Books are a great way to share your intellectual property. I suggest you approach writing a book much like the old saying, “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time!”

Write an article on a dozen main points that you cover in a program/speech. Good size for articles is about 600 words. Embellish the article by adding a few stories that illustrate the point you are making. Then let’s call it a chapter! Repeat a dozen times and you have a book! My approach makes it really doable. That’s the key. A decision that must be made now is to publish with a publishing house, or to self-publish. More on that in a future post.

If you have a book, you have an eBook. I also share that you can take a collection of blog posts, tips and articles and create an eBook in days! I’ll bet you have more content already than you realize.

How about taking your program and creating a companion workbook to go along with it? Then you have a type of “learning system”. Perhaps a self-led version of your program.

Perhaps you have a program that could lend itself well to a licensing arrangement. By this I mean that someone else would deliver your program for you. Typically in this type of arrangement, a percentage of the fee is paid back to you. There are all sorts of ways people set up this type of plan.

You should be recording your speeches on a digital recorder and selling them. If people like what you have to say, they will want “more of you”. You’ll only gain from having speeches on CD’s and MP3 files. Every product creates more interest in what you do.

I sent out a tweet that said: blog post = article = speech = book = eBook = learning system = licensing agreement = ??? I’m trying to point out that there is great value in leveraging your intellectual property in these ways. It is not only lucrative, but creative as well.

So, now that you are in an intellectual property business how are you going to leverage that property? Go out and create a new revenue stream now!

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

Speaker Services, 4/5/12

http://www.speakerservices.com

Hello,

Jack Barnard  Speaker Services team member asked me to remind our local folks in Los Angeles that we have two spots open for the Improv Group which begins on Wednesday 4/11 -  May 5.  I am in the class this time as well as several of our speakers.  If you want to have fun and laugh a lot join us.  Call Jack at 310-993-8762 to secure your spot.  Oh did I mention that we will have a performance at the end of the series? Friends and family are invited.

Here is what is coming up in April, May, June that you might want to take advantage of.

Find and Land Speaking Gigs 5 part Teleclass Series

April 17- May 1, 9am PT, Five, 90 minutes sessions, all calls recorded and a 50 page workbook.  Taught by Susan Levin, Jean-Noel Bassior and hosted by Cindy Greenway, Hot Skills Training for VA’s.

This is an interactive training  perfect for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Coaches, Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistants and their clients

You will learn from scratch everything that you need to know how to find gigs, do research, answer call for proposals and land speaking opportunities for you or for your clients. 

Listen to an audio conversation with Jean-Noel Bassior and myself and see what past attendees had to say about the training and learn more and register http://bit.ly/I381NE

So that you know

*** In Los Angeles*** the same training is being offered for Experts, Speakers, Authors, VA’s  June 23 in West Los Angeles with Susan Levin and Jean- Noel Bassior, Mary Lyn Miller.  Get the details and reserve your space  http://bit.ly/HkdX3z

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May 22, SPEAK YOUR WAY TO MORE INCOME

Conversation, Wine Tasting & Yummy Appetizers in Redondo Beach

With Speaker Marketing Industry Experts: Susan Levin, Speaker Services & Team Member, Jean-Noel Bassior & Mary Lyn Miller

Learn from the seasoned professionals with years of success stories the secrets of putting your money where your mouth is and attracting more clients than ever!

Whether you are an author, speaker, expert, consultant, coach or entrepreneur speaking is one of the fastest ways to more business and credibility.

Speaking establishes your expertise, while marketing you at the same time and lifts your business or service to the next level.

Reserve your space now only 35 seats, $35, 

Register now. http://bit.ly/H7qHa3

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Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop in Los Angeles taught by Susan Levin

June 2, 10am – 2:30pm

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

Speaking is a business and I want you to understand how the marketing side of speaking so that you can create income. Learn more  http://bit.ly/woUmLu

Ceila Black, Public Relations Consultant for speakers shared, Susan Levin gave me the real tools to take my clients to rock star status!

Helaine Harris, Therapist, Coach, Speaker & Author shared, I love the way Susan presents such important and useful information for any speaker, new or seasoned.

Do not  forget to see what is happening in the Speakers’ Community, the membership club.  See http://www.speakerscommunity.com for our upcoming expert interviews.  Did you know you get 60 days complimentary when you join as well as access to over 100 expert mp3 interviews?

PSST: Sneak Preview  

Here is what I am working on.

Working title:  Authors SpeakEasy: Speak Your Book, Social Networks, Secrets to make your Book an Amazon Bestseller with Jack Barnard, Susan Levin and Denise Cassino.

Preview call May 3, followed by a 5 part teleclass series May 31- June 28.  I will the have information posted in a week or so.  Let me know if you are game.

Enjoy your holidays.

Speak Your Way to More Business

Susan Levin

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

FIND and LAND SPEAKING GIGS LIVE WORKSHOP

for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Coaches & Entrepreneurs

Saturday, June 23, 10am-5pm in West Los Angeles

Susan Levin, Jean-Noel Bassior and Mary Lyn Miller

View a short video

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Listen to or download an audio conversation with Susan Levin and Jean-Noel Bassior about Finding and Landing Speaking Opportunities

Getting speaking gigs can be a mysterious and frustrating process, particularly if you don’t have much experience.

Learn from scratch everything you need to know, from crafting a message that gets you a response to how to do research, find and answer proposals and land speaking opportunities for you or your clients.

In this interactive hands on training you will learn how to:

- Use specific resources to find speaking opportunities

- Replace cold calling with smart prospecting

- Identify decision-makers

- Get past the gatekeepers

- Leave voice mail messages that get call-backs

- Convince event planners that you or your client IS the right speaker for the gig

- Generate powerful proposals

- Create outstanding promotional materials (one-sheets, bios, introductions)

- Uncover online resources for finding speaking opportunities

- Name the decision makers in colleges, corporations & associations who hire speakers

- Understand how event producers decide who gets booked

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The workshop includes a 50-page pdf workbook and hands on coaching plus two mastermind follow up sessions with Mary Lyn Miller, Fired Up for Success.

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What Attendees are Saying:

Since completing the course, I have 2 signed contracts for securing speaking gigs with a 3rd contract in the process of being signed. I have 2 free 20 minute consultations scheduled for next week and I am confident that they will convert into signed contracts, as well. Based on a VA hourly fee of $45 @ month, the three signed contracts will convert into an additional $1,260 @ month. Taking the Find and Land Speaking Gigs training program was a tremendous boost to my VA business. 
− Lorraine M. Castle, Castle Virtual Solutions LLC

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I feel 100% more confident about writing and e-mailing speaking proposals than I did before starting this training.  I’m amazed at how succinctly yet thoroughly Susan and Jean-Noel are able to answer questions. They took problems I thought were incredibly complicated and gave me super-simple and effective ways to solve them!  − Kathy Goughenour, WeMarketYouProfit.com

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I signed a client to my mid-tier package, I made DOUBLE what I paid for the class!   Because several of my other services work well with speaker management, I am able to set myself up as an exclusive ‘one-stop shop,’ giving clients more ROI.  I have also received several referrals from my coach.  

Depending on your rate and the number of clients who use the knowledge gained in this training, you have the potential of earning up to $3,000+ per month in additional income!

Here is the bottom line—if your target market includes ANYONE who earns an income by talking to groups of people, you NEED this training!  You have to make an investment in yourself and in your business.  Once you finish this course, with some hard work and good marketing, it will more than pay for itself in no time!  -Lisa Bryant, Jireh Virtual Solutions
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Your investment $297

One payment option: $297  

Two payment option:   2 x  $200

Register http://www.speakerservices.com/findandlandgigslive
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The Team:

Susan Levin is the owner and founder of Speaker Services. Since 1992, she has been a marketing consultant for speakers and authors and a seminar leader. Speaker Services offers full-service coaching, marketing and training for speakers, authors, entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to grow their business and income through speaking. The strategies and techniques she shares are guaranteed to increase your income and business dramatically. Many of the speakers Susan has mentored are earning seven-figure incomes from their speaking practice.

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

Jean-Noel Bassior is a journalist who specializes in celebrity profiles for magazines and newspapers in the US and abroad. As a member of the Speaker Services team, she draws on her media experience to coach speakers, VAs and entrepreneurs on how to get past gatekeepers, reach decision-makers, and follow up with a powerful proposal.

It was a terrific workshop! So many of the participants really wanted it to go on longer! They gave you high marks on their evaluations and were really pleased with your practical and informative presentation. − Louise Paziak, Burbank Public Library

Mary Lyn Miller is founder and CEO of Fired Up for Success Mentoring & Mastermind.  She has spent over 20 years helping individuals and organizations gain the clarity they need to excel and providing a proven coaching and mastermind support system to help them achieve their goals. Her organization has helped thousands of people all over the world find new directions, skyrocket existing businesses, and achieve goals they never dreamed possible .
She is the author of “The 8 Myths of Making a Living” and her most recent book is “90 Day Magic: How to Get What You Really Want in 90 Days or Less.”

learn more and register

Speaker Services – April 1 – E-Zine

http://www.speakerservices.com

Marketing and Training Services since 1992

In this issue:

- Note from Susan Levin

- Featured Speakers & Authors

- Free teleclass 4/4, Find and Land Speaking Gigs

- Los Angeles Workshops

- Speakers’ Community Membership Club in April

- Article 1: 4 Types Of Public Speakers-Which Speaking Style Is Yours?

-  Article 2: 10 Secrets to Being the Guest Expert Everyone Wants to Interview

-  Blog Posts and Tweets that you can use

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Greetings,

Happy April and happy holidays.

Collaboration has been my mantra for the past year and three months.  Helen Keller said it so beautifully.  Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

I talked about this concept in Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop this weekend and it as we shared about our expertise and what we were passionate about several collaboration came together right before our eyes.  Don’t you love that when that happens?

Here are some of the comments that I received following the workshop.  Ceila Black, Public Relations Consultant for speakers said, Susan Levin gave me the real tools to take my clients to rock star status!  Helaine Harris, Therapist, Coach, Speaker & Author shared, I love the way Susan presents such important and useful information for any speaker, new or seasoned.  See her speaker listing.  Dr. Patty Malone, Communication Trainer and Speaker shared, The workshop contained a lot of practical useful advice about the business of speaking.  Great suggestions for websites and one-sheets. See her speaker listing.

Next workshop in Los Angeles is June 2.  I only take 10 students.  So if you want some of what these ladies received from attending this past weekend sign up now http://bit.ly/woUmLu

Are you getting all the gigs you desire?  How are your promotional materials, your one sheet, your website?  Do you want to connect with audiences?

Speaker Services is a one stop shopper for your marketing and training needs.

I have been called the wise woman of speaker marketing and believe me if I can not  help you I can refer you to the right person.  Did I say I have been doing this business since 1992?

You will  learn from scratch everything you need to know and to do research, find, propose and land speaking opportunities for your clients OR for your own business.

As you read through this e-zine you will discover many of the activities that we are offering workshops and teleclasses alike.  Please let me know how I can assist you.

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

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NEW SPEAKERS & AUTHORS FOR APRIL

Joy Chudacoff,  Video

Whether you are looking at what is next in your life, are a new business owner or have been in business for a few years, Joy Chudacoff has easy, proven and simple programs that you can take advantage of to get everything in life that you want and deserve.

Entrepreneurial Solutions, Motivational, Personal Development, Women’s Issues, Work/Life Balance .  See full listing  http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/303

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Deborah Deras, Author, Video

Deborah empowers busy professionals to discover the 7 principles that will restore their energy so they can live balanced and fulfilled lives.

Career, Leadership, Motivational, Success, Teens .  See full listing  http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/371

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Lisa Cypers Kamen, Author has lots of Video and Speaker One Sheets. The following is the third one sheet we created for Lisa.

HH4H-OneSheet#3-FINAL-3-12

Internationally known happiness expert offers breakthrough system for raising your personal Happiness Factor and conducts Harvesting Happiness for Heroes  reintegration programs for returning combat veterans.

Crisis, Happiness, Military/Veterans, Personal Development, Wellbeing, Work/Life Balance.  See speaker listing http://bit.ly/H8HhvH

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Dr. Patty Malone, Video     

Communication Trainer, professor and former TV news anchor shows companies how to save millions and increase profits by avoiding communication breakdowns and mistakes
Business, Career, Communication, Conflict Resolution, Organizational Change, Presentation Skills. See full listing http://www.speakerservices.com/speakers/detail/443

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Kim Mitchell. Author and Video

Creativity coach reveals how to activate and utilize both sides of your brain.
Leadership, Stress Management, Team Building.  See full listing http://bit.ly/H5RhoM

SEE ALL OF OUR SPEAKERS AND AUTHORS

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APRIL 4 FREE PREVIEW CALL for the upcoming series Find & Land Speaking Gigs for Speakers and Virtual Assistants and their clients, Sign up even if can not make it and we will send you the mp3.

Register for the free preview 4/4

In the Find and Land Speaking Opportunities 5-part program, you are going to learn, from scratch, everything you need to know and do to research, find, prospect and land speaking opportunities for your or your clients.  New series begins 4/17-5/1.

Past attendee Tena Frank shared, I have been working for a client for several months who is a public speaker.  She is been asking for help with expanding her speaking business, but I had no idea where to start. The Find and Land Speaking Gigs was exactly what I needed. With their expert guidance and a workbook chock full of pertinent information, I am quickly developing the skills I need to become an expert in this niche market.

Led by Jean-Noel Bassior and Susan Levin

and hosted by Cindy Greenway HotSkills Training for VA;s

Read more and sign up for the preview  call

Need a Virtual Assistant? 

See our recommendations under Virtual Assistants

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WORKSHOPS IN LOS ANGELES

May 22, SPEAK YOUR WAY TO MORE INCOME

Conversation, Wine Tasting & Yummy Appetizers in Redondo Beach

With Speaker Marketing Industry Experts: Susan Levin, Speaker Services & Team Member, Jean-Noel Bassior

A Mary Lyn Miller production, Fired Up for Success

Learn from the seasoned professionals with years of success stories the secrets of putting your money where your mouth is and attracting more clients than ever!

This is not a Speaking Workshop; this is Marketing Workshop that can give you the tools to skyrocket your business

- Even if you are shy

- Even if you have no speaking experience

- Even if you are afraid of audiences!

Whether you are an author, speaker, expert, consultant, coach or entrepreneur speaking is one of the fastest ways to more business and credibility.

Speaking establishes your expertise, while marketing you at the same time and lifts your business or service to the next level.

Reserve your space now only 35 seats, $35, 

Register now. http://bit.ly/H7qHa3

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Join us in person in Los Angeles for Market Yourself as a Speaker Workshop in Los Angeles taught by Susan Levin.

June 2, 10am – 2:30pm

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

Speaking is a business and I want you to understand how the marketing side of speaking so that you can create income. Learn more  http://bit.ly/woUmLu

The workshop was Intelligent and Inspirational. Susan Levin is a mentor who educates with confidence. She invests knowledge in her people with heart and honesty which is so rare and refreshing.  When the student is ready, the master appears! – Michele the Trainer,  See her speaker listing.

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Want me all to yourself? Work with me privately.  I will customize a package for you based in your needs http://bit.ly/yjlvVs

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IMPROV CLASSES ARE BACK with Jack Barnard.  5  Sessions Wednesday evenings,  April11, 18, 25 & May 2. May 5 performance in West Los Angeles.

Contact Jack directly jackp.barnard@verizon.net for time and registration.

I am going to be in the class this time.  It is so fun.

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In the Speakers Community Membership Club http://www.speakerscommunity.com

Did you happen to catch the interview I did with Gene Konstant.on Hidden Speaker Markets?  He also included 34 resources in a word doc for the attendees.  You can purchase it for $19.95 here http://bit.ly/HD8ogi or you can join the Speakers Community Membership Club and get Get 60 days FREE have access to all the past expert interviews as the current (twice a month) for a mere $19.95 a month. $10 a month per expert!  Unheard of.

In April in the Speakers Community

Wednesday, April 11, 4-5pm PT
Be the News, Jill Lublin

- Understand how publicity can increase your speaking engagements
- Discover what is unique about your message and newsworthy to the media
- Develop low cost PR campaign for little or no money

Learn more/register

Thursday, April 26, 4-5pm PT
Communicate Clearly and Get Results: Your Communication Style Matters, Patty Malone

-    Discover the keys to clear communication.
-    Everyone communicates but few connect.
-    The top quality that great communicator must have.
-    How to avoid communication breakdowns and mistakes and more.

Learn more and register

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Have you gotton your copy of Market Yourself as a Speaker Resource and Study Guide, 92 pages.

Getting more clients is the biggest challenge for most small knowledge or service-based businesses.  See more and order http://bit.ly/wCHxeH

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ARTICLES

4 Types Of Public Speakers-Which Speaking Style Is Yours?
eventstrategysolutions.com

POST FROM Daphne Bousquet

There are 2 models of speaking at seminars and events, for free and for a fee.  And sometimes they will both be used at the same event.  And although there are only 2 models of speaking, there are 4 types of public speakers.  And no, this is not based on whether you like public speaking or not.  This is based on your speaking style.

Keynote Speakers
Keynote speakers deliver motivational speeches at events, meetings and seminars.  They get paid for their work and they do not make any offers.  Yes, they do present valuable information, but it is generally more motivational, rather than training. As a keynote speaker, it is your job to inspire and entertain your audience with stories and teaching points.

Pitchers These are speakers that sell from the platform.  Although there is nothing wrong with selling from the stage, Pitchers tell stories, entertain you (sometimes) and give you a big sales pitch. If you want to actually learn something valuable, you have to buy their product.  Yuck! I hate those kinds of speakers.  They just tease.

Donors The Pitchers actually gave rise to the donors.  Donors are speakers that deliver tremendous value in their presentations.  However, they are so afraid to come off as Pitchers, that they do not make an offer at all.  They pretty much are donating their time to the group, but are not growing their business, even though they think they are. And that makes me sad.  Because that means that they are leaving those attendees who may be ready for more, hanging.   They can not take the next step and since the audience usually does not know what the next step is, they will not ask for it either.  You do not know what you do not know, right?

Transformers are speakers that deliver tremendous value, really teach something and make an offer. Those are the gems!  Even if their audience does not take the transformer up on their offer, they will have learned something that could transform their life or business.

The key is that they make an offer. That does not mean they make a sales pitch.  There is a big difference in making a sales pitch and giving the people who are listening to you the opportunity to take the next step if they wish.

That is why I think it is vital to make an offer, even if it is just an offer to allow you to stay in touch with them.  After all, at some events, you are not allowed to sell.  And when that happens, give.  Do a drawing for one of your products or give away an ebook and a subscription to your newsletter in exchange for a survey or feedback form.  That way you can stay in touch with them and give them the next step after the seminar.

So which speaking style are you?  Are you the type of public speaker that gets paid for your speaking gigs up front, or in the back of the room?  Do you mix it up? Or do you get paid at all?

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10 SECRETS TO BEING THE GUEST EXPERT EVERYONE WANTS TO INTERVIEW
This post is by my colleague Donna Gunter.

Take it away Donna

I interview guest experts every month as one of the benefits offered on my membership site. Most of the time, the preparation for the interview is fairly easy, as the guest expert sends all the requested information in a timely fashion.  However, sometimes getting the info from the expert (or the experts assistant) is a nightmare.  The requested info comes in bits and pieces, and that is only after multiple email requests have been sent.

Then, recently, I hit the guest expert nirvana. In one document, this guest sent me EVERYTHING I would need to promote her program to my members, in my ezine, on my blog — you name it!  Included in her packet were pieces of information that I had not even though of requesting but would be useful in getting the word out about her program.  It is no wonder that this guest expert gets invited to speak again and again.  She and her team have made it extraordinarily easy to work with her.

Now, contrast this with another guest expert I contacted, whose work I like and admire.  Her team’s response to my inquiry was to send me a two-page form to complete to determine if she was the right speaker for my event.  There were all sorts of question that would be applicable to me if I were asking her to speak at a live event, but I only wanted her to show up for a teleclass.

I took one look at the form, and asked my assistant to tell her team that we had decided to go with another speaker, which was too bad, considering that I thought she had a message my members could use.

How can you make it easy for your colleagues to ask you to speak to their group or their membership?  Here are 10 elements that you can provide in your signature speech information packet to make it painless for your host to ask you to be a guest and promote your call:

1. Compelling title.
2.  Invitation to sign up for affiliate program.
3.  Audience handout.
4.  Downloadable headshot photo.
5.  Web copy.
6.  Sample email broadcast.
7.  Bios.
8. Sample questions and answers.
9.  Article.
10. Social networking updates.

If you follow these ten tips, you will be the guest expert that all of your colleagues will want to interview!  Read the full article on my blog  http://bit.ly/H7n3Rm

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Blog Posts and Tweets that you can use:

- Post Beauty & Wisdom Altering the Perception of Age http://t.co/A5MbxQmR Robbie Kaye photographer,author, speaker. Love the message & photos

- 7 New Facebook Changes Impacting Businesses | Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/7-new-facebook-changes-impacting-businesses/ via @smexaminer

- Grab Your Audiences Attention Right off the Bat http://t.co/ZuUVW2JM 5 minutes or 10 minutes?

- Content Syndication: 7 Easy Steps to Convert Your Content Into Video http://www.getmoreclientsonline.com/content-syndication-easy-steps Another great post @donnagunter

- Authors: Do not put your audience to sleep when are doing a reading, signing or interview. Bring it to life. Forming telclass Interested?

- 10 Easy Ways To Prepare A Powerful Introduction http://t.co/v4oGOJvD Tip: Write your own introduction

This post is by my colleague Donna Gunter.

Take it away Donna

I interview guest experts every month as one of the benefits offered on my membership site. Most of the time, the preparation for the interview is fairly easy, as the guest expert sends all the requested information in a timely fashion.  However, sometimes getting the info from the expert (or the expert’s assistant) is a nightmare.  The requested info comes in bits and pieces, and that’s only after multiple email requests have been sent.

Then, recently, I hit the guest expert nirvana. In one document, this guest sent me EVERYTHING I would need to promote her program to my members, in my ezine, on my blog — you name it!  Included in her packet were pieces of information that I hadn’t even though of requesting but would be useful in getting the word out about her program.  It’s no wonder that this guest expert gets invited to speak again and again.  She and her team have made it extraordinarily easy to work with her.

Now, contrast this with another guest expert I contacted, whose work I like and admire.  Her team’s response to my inquiry was to send me a two-page form to complete to determine if she was the right speaker for my event.  There were all sorts of question that would be applicable to me if I were asking her to speak at a live event, but I only wanted her to show up for a teleclass.  I took one look at the form, and asked my assistant to tell her team that we had decided to go with another speaker, which was too bad, considering that I thought she had a message my members could use.

How can you make it easy for your colleagues to ask you to speak to their group or their membership?  Here are 10 elements that you can provide in your signature speech information packet to make it painless for your host to ask you to be a guest and promote your call:

1. Compelling title.  If your signature speech title doesn’t pack a punch, it’s not going to catch the attention of the audience. So many times my guests have send me their talk descriptions and I’ve had to help  them “punch it up” a bit and add a hook so that it is compelling to my audience. Take a look at some titles that have captured your attention and see if you can add a “hook” to your talk title with an especially compelling benefit or outcome.

2.  Invitation to sign up for affiliate program.  No one speaks to hear themselves talk — there’s always a call to action to buy a product or service.  Inviting the host to sign up for your affiliate program makes the host much more eager to promote your special offer, as the host will earn a commission on any sales made of your product or service.

3.  Audience handout.  Rather than simply providing a handout, offer the handout via a squeeze page so that you can capture the participant’s name and email address.  This is a unique idea that I’d never seen previously.  It’s a great strategy for helping you as the guest expert build your list.  Typically if you’re a guest for someone else, they promote you and build their list with signups for the program.  This unique strategy helps level the playing field.

4.  Downloadable headshot photo.  Offering your headshot in a variety of sizes and in both color and black and white from a download page on your site makes it easy for your host to pick the best version to use for your program promotion.

5.  Web copy.  Create a compelling description of your talk, including 4-6 “learning points” outlining what participants will gain by participating in your call.  Typically this will include 2-3 introductory paragraphs, your bullet points, and an invitation to participate in the call.

6.  Sample email broadcast. By composing a sample email broadcast, you have eliminated the heavy lifting for your host. Well-written copy for your host means that all she has to do is fill in the time and date of the call, as well as how to sign up, and the broadcast is ready to send to her list.

7.  Bios.  Create both a long bio (200 words) and short bio (100 words) that the host can use to tell her audience about you to promote your program, and note which one (or provide the version) to be used to introduce you during the call.

8. Sample questions and answers.  Typically, when you are a guest on a teleclass, the host will interview you, rather than asking you to provide a full presentation.  Make the task of being a guest easier by providing your host with sample questions to ask you, along with sample answers.  This will enable the host to be a better interviewer and ask better followup questions, thus making the interview flow naturally.

9.  Article. Create an article that is written about the topic of your interview and provide that to the host to use in her ezine or on her blog.  Don’t duplicate the points of your presentation; rather, touch on those that you don’t have time to cover in your talk.

10. Social networking updates.  Help your host tell her followers and friends about your call by providing 5-10 140-character status updates that she can use to help promote your talk on the primary social networking sites.

If you follow these ten tips, you’ll be the guest expert that all of your colleagues will want to interview!

Discover how to stop the client chase and create an online service business drives traffic to your web site with free instant access to 7 proven internet marketing strategies that separate the top 1% of online businesses from the rest by visiting http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

SPEAK YOUR WAY TO MORE INCOME

A Mary Lyn Miller production, Fired Up for Success

With Speaker Marketing Industry Experts: Susan Levin, Speaker Services & Team Member, Jean-Noel Bassior & Mary Lyn Miller

Conversation, Wine Tasting & Yummy Appetizers

Get ready to learn from these two seasoned professionals with years of success stories the secrets of putting your money where your mouth is and attracting more clients than ever!

This is not a “Speaking Workshop;” this is Marketing Workshop that can give you the tools to skyrocket your business

- Even if you’re shy
- Even if you have no speaking experience
- Even if you’re afraid of audiences!

Whether you are an author, speaker, expert, consultant, coach or entrepreneur speaking is one of the fastest ways to more business and credibility.

Speaking establishes your expertise, while marketing you at the same time and lifts your business or service to the next level.

Here are a few items that we are going to share with you and yes we will answer your questions.  Bring them on.

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

-  UNDERSTAND why speaking is one of the most powerful marketing tools you have at your disposal.

- EXPLORE the top ways to make money by speaking.

- SECRETS to marketing your business that will give you credibility, visibility and immediate new clients – even if you have never spoken before!

- STEPS for building a profitable speaking business that gets your message out to the world.

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DATE: Tuesday, May 22, 4:30-7:30pm

$39 early registration, $49 thereafter, lmtd seating (35 seats)

WHERE:  Total Wine, 1505 Hawthorne Blvd. South Bay Marketplace (near Nordstrom’s Rack), Redondo Beach, 90278

Register Now

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THE SPEAKERS:

Susan Levin founder of Speaker Services since ’92.  Marketing Strategist, Speaker and Author.  She is known as the “wise woman” of speaker marketing. The strategies and techniques she shares are guaranteed to increase your income and business dramatically.  Many of the speakers Susan has mentored are earning seven figure incomes from their speaking practice.

Jean-Noel Bassior is a journalist who specializes in celebrity profiles for magazines and newspapers in the US and abroad. As a member of the Speaker Serices team, she draws on her media experience to coach speakers, VAs and entrepreneurs on how to get past gatekeepers, reach decision-makers, and follow up with a powerful proposal.

Mary Lyn Miller is founder and CEO of Fired Up for Success Mentoring & Mastermind.  She has spent over 20 years helping individuals and organizations gain the clarity they need to excel and providing a proven coaching and mastermind support system to help them achieve their goals. Her organization has helped thousands of people all over the world find new directions, skyrocket existing businesses, and achieve goals they never dreamed possible .

She is the author of “The 8 Myths of Making a Living” and her most recent book is “90 Day Magic: How to Get What You Really Want in 90 Days or Less.”

Register Now

Finally an interactive training  perfect for Speakers, Authors, Experts, Coaches, Entrepreneurs, Virtual Assistants and their clients

Find and Land Speaking Opportunities is a  5-part teleclass series where you will  learn from scratch everything you need to know and to do research, find, propose and land speaking opportunities for you or for your clients.

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Listen to a conversation with Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior discussing how to Find and Land Speaking Opportunities.

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Begins April 17- Ending May 1, 9am PT, Five, 90 minutes sessions, all calls recorded and a 50 page workbook, $397 – 2 payment plan available.

Teleclass series in collaboration with Cindy Greenway, Hot Skills VA Training taught by Susan Levin and Jean-Noel of Speaker Services

**Live Workshop**  June 23 in West Los Angeles with Susan Levin and Jean- Noel Bassior, Mary Lyn Miller  get details

Every business owner and entrepreneur knows that one of the best ways to build their business and share their message is by speaking.

“I absolutely love this class! I’m learning so much from it and I’m confident that I am now equipped to assist my clients who may be looking for speaking engagements.”
− Lorraine M. Castle, Castle Virtual Solutions LLC

With a  little bit of training, you can easily learn how to:
•    Use specific resources to find speaking opportunities
•    Replace cold calling with smart prospecting
•    Identify decision-makers
•    Get past the gatekeepers
•    Leave voice mail messages that get call-backs
•    Convince event planners that you or your client IS the right speaker for the gig
•    Generate powerful proposals
•    Create outstanding promotional materials (one-sheets, bios, introductions)
•    Develop a checklist to make sure that client and VA are a good match

“I feel 100% more confident about writing and e-mailing speaking proposals than I did before starting this training. In two short lessons, I’ve already gotten my money’s worth. I’m amazed at how succinctly yet thoroughly Susan and Jean-Noel are able to answer questions. They took problems I thought were incredibly complicated and gave me super-simple and effective ways to solve them. THANK YOU!”  
− Kathy Goughenour, WeMarketYouProfit.com

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Since completing the course, I have 2 signed contracts for securing speaking gigs with a 3rd contract in the process of being signed. I have 2 free 20 minute consultations scheduled for next week and I am confident that they will convert into signed contracts, as well. Based on a VA hourly fee of $45 @ month, the three signed contracts will convert into an additional $1,260 @ month. Taking the Find and Land Speaking Gigs training program was a tremendous boost to my VA business. 
− Lorraine M. Castle, Castle Virtual Solutions LLC

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I signed a client to my mid-tier package, I made DOUBLE what I paid for the class!   Because several of my other services work well with speaker management, I am able to set myself up as an exclusive ‘one-stop shop,’ giving clients more ROI.  I have also received several referrals from my coach.  

Depending on your rate and the number of clients who use the knowledge gained in this training, you have the potential of earning up to $3,000+ per month in additional income!

Here is the bottom line—if your target market includes ANYONE who earns an income by talking to groups of people, you NEED this training!  You have to make an investment in yourself and in your business.  Once you finish this course, with some hard work and good marketing, it will more than pay for itself in no time!  -Lisa Bryant, Jireh Virtual Solutions

Sign up now

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The Team
Susan Levin is the owner and founder of Speaker Services. Since 1992, she has been a marketing consultant for speakers and authors and a seminar leader. Speaker Services offers full-service coaching, marketing and training for speakers, authors, entrepreneurs and business professionals who want to grow their business and income through speaking. The strategies and techniques she shares are guaranteed to increase your income and business dramatically. Many of the speakers Susan has mentored are earning seven-figure incomes from their speaking practice.
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Jean-Noel Bassior is a journalist who specializes in celebrity profiles for magazines and newspapers in the US and abroad. As a member of the Speaker Services team, she draws on her media experience to coach speakers, VAs and entrepreneurs on how to get past gatekeepers, reach decision-makers, and follow up with a powerful proposal.

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Cindy Greenway is the author of Virtually Successful: 8 Simple Ways For Virtual Assistants To Find (and Keep) Clients. Cindy loves her work and is passionate about the Virtual Assistant profession. Nothing satisfies her more than training and mentoring others as well as supporting the growth of the industry by educating the business community.

Read more and register now

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Need a Virtual Assistant?  Check out Speaker Services Recommended VA’s

By Rich Brooks
Published September 14, 2011

You’ve got a brilliant business idea, but your bank lacks your vision. (Or perhaps you lack the collateral.)

Maybe you reached out to friends and family, but you know they lost their shirts when your brother-in-law’s salmon-flavored energy drink flopped. Is this the death of your nascent business?

Not. So. Fast.

Social media is changing more than the way we market and communicate… It’s changing the way we raise capital.

Crowdfunding websites are popping up that connect entrepreneurs with investors, producers with patrons, and causes with contributors.

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding builds upon the idea of crowdsourcing: “the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a “crowd”), through an open call.” (Wikipedia)

Crowdfunding pulls together a community—tightly knit or disparate—to fund a project, business or cause, usually via the Internet.

How does it work?

Although the rules differ from site to site, generally people (or businesses or charities) pitch an idea, set a fundraising goal and set a deadline for raising funds.

Potential patrons can review the pitches and decide if there are any they’d like to support. On most crowdfunding sites, people are not investing in the project or business; rather, they are funding it. They are rewarded if the project comes to fruition, but don’t end up owning any part of the business or project.

This is in part due to U.S. regulations currently under review by the SEC, so this may change in the near future. However, different sites have different rules, especially those based outside the U.S., so make sure you review the terms and conditions carefully!

To launch your own project, I’ll focus on Kickstarter—one of the most popular crowdfunding sites—as an example.

You start with a pitch: you describe your project, specify what rewards patrons will receive if the fundraising is successful and create a funding goal and a timeline.

If you don’t reach your funding goal by the deadline, no money changes hands. As Kickstarter says, this “protects everyone involved. Creators aren’t expected to develop their project without necessary funds, and it allows anyone to test concepts without risk.”

Pledges are made with a credit card; if you’re backing a project, your card won’t be charged until the project is successfully funded.

Read more Social Media Examiner http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/11-tips-for-crowdfunding-how-to-raise-money-from-strangers/ via @smexaminer

Sample Sponsorship letter for Motivational Keynote Speaker – Brad Montgomery, www.bradmontgomery.com

Note from Brad: I love working with sponsors, and have a black belt at helping them get the most from their investment. (And that is what it is about for them… and investment. They want to get their brand/services/products in front of your people. And this is an opportunity for them to do just that.)

It’s important NOT to turn my keynote speech into a commercial. Your audience will hate us if we do that. But it’s also important that your sponsor gets MORE than just a mention, a banner, and a handshake. I’m great at helping them get value without offending your folks. How? I use humor. I am able to joke about the sponsor, their talking points and their needs in a way that REALLY helps them get their info out there in a fun, safe way. And the audience will know who helped bring me in to speak to them, and whatever talking points they wanted to get across.

Bottom line: we can use humor to make everybody laugh AND meet the needs of the sponsor, you as a planner, and the audience as a whole.

Want to set up a conference call with a potential sponsor and me to discuss how we do this? Contact me here!

Ok, here is the sample letter. (Don’t forget to personalize it!)
==========

- Your Letterhead -

Dear ( )

I am writing to see if you and (Company Name) would be interested in sponsoring a presentation for the members of (Your Organization). We would like to invite Brad Montgomery, CSP to present a program on how to use levity, lightheartedness and humor to reduce stress and improve productivity . Brad is an expert on the Humor in the Workplace, and plans to help us to use humor to manage stress, assist in employee recruitment and retention, and just plain give us a much needed laughter break.

The program is Ordinary Magic: The Funny Business of Enjoying Life. The participants will articulate techniques for using levity, This program is presented by Brad Montgomery, CSP., a member of the National Speakers Association, and has been presented to audiences in all of the 50 United States. More details about Brad and his presentations is available at his website, www.BradMontgomery.com.

The program would be held on (Date, Time, Location). Your generous sponsorship would be highlighted by (select from following list as applicable):

* Company name in meeting announcements and promotional materials
* Your generous sponsorship noted in Brad’s introduction
* An opportunity to introduce the program and the speaker. (And spend a couple of minutes educating us about your company.
* Free booth space or table to showcase products or services.
* Signage recognizing contribution at event.
* Acknowledgement on program learning materials.
Best of all…
* Brad will have a phone meeting with you to learn more about what info you want to pass on to this audience…. and Brad will rely on his experience with treating sponsors great to help you get what you need.

Mr. Montgomery has worked with sponsors in the past, and assures us that he is adept at assuring that your return on your sponsorship dollars will be well worth the investment. (He has a unique way of using humor to highlight the details of your company and product or services, and would love to talk to you about it. Feel free to call Brad at 303.691.0726)

You and any other representatives of (Name of Company) would be most welcome to attend so that we could thank you personally for your support.

The estimated audience of (Number) (physicians, nurses and other support staff) would benefit tremendously from your generosity. The cost to sponsor the educational program would be (Cost). I would be most appreciative of a telephone call to let me know of your interest.

You may reach me at (Phone Number). I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you for considering this request.

Sincerely,

Resources: 

MP3:  Expert Interview with Shannon Cherry: Get Paid for Every Speaking Event You Do With Sponsorships http://bit.ly/yfrUsm

MP3: Myths about Corporate Sponsorship Interview with Linda Hollander: http://bit.ly/wLE8ek

Sponsorship Articles in  Market Yourself as a Speaker Blog: http://bit.ly/ynT3VK

-  Tips on Finding, Contacting and Securing Sponsors

This post is from my colleague Janis Pettit

Getting more clients is usually the biggest challenge for most knowledge or service-based business owners. Lack of sales can result in frustration, struggle, stagnation and even failure and one of the most common reasons is that you may not be promoting your products, programs and services often enough.  

One of the reasons many small or solo entrepreneurs fail to promote is because they aren’t sure what will work or they don’t want to feel like they’re being pushy or “salesy”.  Another reason may be that they are not doing any active promotion. Active promotion requires you to speak with a prospect in person or over the phone, not through an e-mail or Facebook message and it’s much more powerful in establishing a real connection.

Speaking is the fastest, easiest way to catapult your business to a whole new level and have clients seeking you out. Developing a speaking strategy can fill your business with eager clients very quickly. It works perfectly whether you’re just starting out or have been in business for some time. In fact if you’re at the starting gate, pick up the phone this week and start calling local organizations whose members are in your target market and offer to speak at one of their meetings.

Before you seek out speaking opportunities, you’ll want to prepare so you get the results you want by creating a signature speech or presentation that gets people interested in working with you. Here is a simple formula that will get you started. Ask yourself these questions:

-  What are the top 3 problems people in my market have that I can solve?
-  What are the top 3 mistakes people make that create these problems?
-  What are the top 3 results I can deliver?

Now develop a 45-minute talk that explains these problems, the mistakes people make that get them there, and the changes that will eliminate these problems. Start with your story or the story of a client who you have successfully helped navigate the path from problem to result. Conclude your talk by mentioning the programs or products that help you clients achieve these results.

Even if you are not permitted to “sell from the stage” you can offer people a wonderful gift–your giveaway–in exchange for their name and e-mail address so you can add them to your subscriber list. Or you can offer the first 5 people who approach you after your presentation an opportunity to pick your brain in a “complimentary phone discovery session”.  These are just a few of the many ways you can almost instantly turn speaking into clients.

There are so many ways that speaking can attract people to you and give you what you need to succeed, like–
*    More subscribers
*    More social media followers
*    More website traffic
*    More interested leads
*    More clients
*    More visibility in your market
*    More online sales….
And more income.

I’m going to challenge you to make this a key marketing strategy in your business and you’ll easily fill your business with eager clients who are excited about working with you.

If you’d like to learn more about how you can turn speaking into sales, join me and 7 other top experts  at the Speaking to Sales Online Conference. Each of these experts have turned speaking into six or seven figures in sales. You can attend free by registering here – http://bit.ly/ypp79B

Susan’s note:  I am one of the speakers

Marketers Need To Understand Online Video Personalization in 2012

This post comes to you from Donna Gunter

Despite the popularity of RSS feeds, it seems as though many blog readers still prefer to get blog updates via email.  I know that I do, if the 21,000+ unread blog posts in my Bloglines account is any indication.    Plus, I have no idea of how many people read my blog through an RSS reader, as there is no way to track that number. Having realized these facts, I began to do some research on how to better harness my blog subscribers and increase my subscriber base.

The solution was easier than I imagined, using the service I already use for email marketing, GetMoreClientsAutoresponder.com.  This service has now built in a blog marketing feature that is included at no extra charge with your email marketing account.  Unlike the other blog-to-email subscriber services out there, this one permits me total access to my subscribers and well as total control of how the email broadcasts look.

Here are the 4 strategies you can implement to double the number of blog subscribers to your blog:

1.  Blog newsletter.  Your blog’s success depends largely on your ability to drive visitors to it to read your posts, click on your ads, and purchase your products and services.  With a blog newsletter, you can merge the best of email and RSS and convert your blog’s RSS automatically to an email newsletter. You can schedule your blog newsletters to publish on a regular basis, or as you publish new posts.  You can also track web site clicks using your own domain name, and see who clicks your links and opens your messages. The most powerful feature is the ability to segment subscribers based on who clicked (or didn’t click) on a link and send followup emails.

2.  Blog subscribe page.  Just like the subscribe (or squeeze) page for your ezine, your blog needs a squeeze page, as well, to sell visitors on the value of your blog. Some visitors will get to your subscribe page from one of your posts, and others will arrive there from your signup form, where you link to your subscribe page for people who want more info before deciding to subscribe. You might even throw in a freebie for subscribing.

3.  Opt-in form at end of each post.  One of the most effective strategies is to place an opt-in form at the end of each post.  If someone reads to the end of an article, she must have been particularly impressed with the content. So, why not make it easy for her to subscribe at the end of the post?

4.  Share function. When you ask your current subscribers to share your blog, you’re likely to get new subscribers just like your current ones, who then share your blog with other people in your target market. A quick way to do this is to have a sidebar in your blog newsletter asking your readers to share the post, and then request readers to visit your blog squeeze page to receive future posts.

These four strategies for increasing your blog’s readership aren’t widely discussed, yet those who have used them have experienced significant gains in their blog subscriber numbers.  Discover how your blog readership grows by implementing just one of these strategies today!

Internet Marketing for Introverts Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals who are introverts learn how to authentically market their business and get found online without sacrificing their introverted soul.  Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results for introverts? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==>http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com

$25- 92 pages Order now

Received your book, can’t put it down. A great investment. Speaking to a group of 30 on the 9th. Thank you!  – Tina McKnight

Market Yourself as a Speaker Resource and Study Guide is a rich source of practical hands-on information for speakers, authors, entrepreneurs, business professionals, experts and coaches who are interested in growing their business and income through speaking.

Written and compiled by Susan Levin, Speaker Marketing Strategist and owner and founder of Speaker Services   since 1992.  Speaker Services is a Full-Service Coaching, Marketing & Training Company.  Susan has assisted thousands of professionals to catapult their businesses to six and seven figure incomes.

Susan believes that Speaking is a Business and like any business it needs to be nourished and marketed.

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Through Susan’s marketing guidance I learned new tools that can translate into immediate dollars. 

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Overview of the 92 page Resource and Study Guide:

- 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
- Gain New Clients with the Power of  Social Media

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Partial List of the Content:

Why Will You Speak?,  Speak Right from the Heart, Managing Your Speaker Business, Top Mistakes Speaker Make, Presentation Worksheet, Success Secrets of the Motivational Superstars, Items for Your Presentation Kit, Speaker Buttons for your Website & Content, Negotiating Fees, Fee Schedule, Presentation Agreement & Invoice, Pre-program Questionnaires, Creating & Marketing Speaker Products, Turn your Keynote into a Book, Media Speak & Tips, 30 Brilliant Social Media Marketing, Finding Speaking Opportunities

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$25  Order now

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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.

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Visit Speaker Services online store for other books, CD’s & MP3′s online store 

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Learn more about our Professional Promotional Materials http://bit.ly/zGDFm7

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Web Directory: Speaker Services:
http://speakerservices.com
We bring speakers/authors together with audiences

Get Listed in the Directory:
http://speakerservices.com/adv_pkt.html

Speaker Marketing Consultations
http://www.speakerservices.com/marketing.html

Speakers’ Community –a membership club
http://www.speakerscommunity.com
60 days complimentary

Workshops/Teleclasses
http://www.speakerservices.com/services/la.html

Susan Levin, publisher/owner
Los Angeles, CA

susan@speakerservices.com
310-822-4922 PST

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

Posted by Susan Levin, owner and founder of Speaker Services since 1992

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.

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. (Fee does not include graphics).

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.

E-mail susan@speakerservices.com if interested in the offer. Or call 310-822-4922 PT.

See a few sample pdf’s one sheers below.

Lisa Cypers Kamen  3 one sheets

#1 Happiness is an Inside Job

LisaCypersKamen1sheet

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#2 Return to Duty Corporate Training

ReturntoDutyCorporateTraining

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#3 Harvesting Happiness for Heroes

HH4H-OneSheet#3-FINAL-3-12

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Melissa Evans one sheet[1][1]

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3-Carrie-Flintom-One-Sheet

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JaneHoneck1sheet

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

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’m asking the person I’m speaking to 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’m 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, semi­annual? We want to find out how many opportunities a year this prospect may have to hire us.

10. Is there anything that I haven’t 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’s 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! She can be reached in the following ways:

Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com

Post by Steve Markman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

=====

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

This post is from Daphne Bousquet

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Lois@BookMoreBusiness.com
Twitter: @loiscreamer

STORYTELLING-  EVERY GREAT SPEAKER IS A GREAT STORYTELLER

Jack Barnard, Team member of Speaker Services

jackp.barnard@earthlink.net

Susan note:  Storytelling is essential to your presentations.  Stories paint a visual picture and if told properly you will attract business your way.  It is called seeding. One of the ways to support your points in a presentation is by telling a story.  Take it way Jack.

“Once upon a time the prince met the princess. But she was having a bad hair day, and he was interested in her brother, so they both lived somewhat happily ever after, but not with each other.”

“Stories are not just meant to make us smile. Our lives depend on them.”

Chinua Achebe, Nigerian novelist

 Gathered around the warm fires, listening to the Wise Ones, hearing the history through the Storyteller was the way of our ancestors. It was an honor to be the Storyteller, as the Storyteller spoke the truth of the moment, sharing the wisdom and knowledge that guided the people and protected the children.

We live in a storytelling culture. Our movies are two-hour stories, our sitcoms twenty-two minute stories, our songs three-minute stories, our commercials one-minute and thirty-second stories (and lately, because our attention spans have been confiscated by Twitter, fifteen-second stories). We the people are so used to absorbing through stories that when we don’t get them, the medicine doesn’t go down as sweetly.

 “The truths of how to live in harmony were kept alive by wise Storytellers.”

James Sams and Twylah Nitsch

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

Jack’S TiDBIT:

1) Give me information…it’s in my head

2) Tell me a story…it’s in my heart

3) Involve me…it’s in my gut

We love stories and we learn through the telling of them. Sprinkle your message with stories, anecdotes (analogies and examples) that bring out the flavor of your theme. Stories, anecdotes, jokes and illustrations take the audience by the hand and help them understand what you’re saying. Stories deliver the salient points of wisdom. You can tell us the point you’re trying to make, and we may understand it, but we get the meaning through stories. We’re a storytelling culture.

Know this: there is seldom a reason to tell a story in a speech or presentation unless it illustrates/dramatizes/proves an important point.

 CRITICAL STORYTELLING ELEMENTS

Good stories allow audiences to add visual and emotional components to their assimilation.

1) Show, don’t tell…pretty much the adage in all media forms, be the story, words are great, experiences are better

2) Sensorial language…engage the senses…how cold was it? How tall was he? What was the scent in the air?

3) 1^st person present…here now, here now, as if it’s happening right this moment

4) Descriptive…don’t overdo the details, but give us what we need to co-create the experience

5) Beginning — Middle — End…structure is important, but don’t let it overtake the spirit of the talk

6) Prove point…in a speech or presentation of any kind, your stories are meant to demonstrate an aspect of your message

7) Create impact…if the story doesn’t add steam to your theme, then don’t use it

On time, on point…practice your stories based on different time frames and don’t cheat

Jack’S TiDBIT:

Keep a record of your stories, anecdotes, jokes and great quotes. Put them in a folder, journal, or computer file, so when you need them, they’re easily accessible. Practice your stories. Tell them to a friend, try them out in different ways. Eliminate superfluous parts and irrelevant details.

• 3 TYPES OF STORIES

There are 3 types of stories:

√ Personal…about you, your friends, clients and acquaintances

√ Cultural…about people in the news, celebrities, living and dead

√ Mythic…fairy tales, legends, heroes and heroines

All three have value in proving your points. If I wanted to use stories to demonstrate the value of telling the truth, I could tell a Mythic Story — The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Or I could tell a Cultural Story — Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. Or a Personal Story — when I lied to mommy when I was 10, then had to cover that lie with a lie, and another lie, and eventually got grounded till I got married.

Have all three in your arsenal.

Jack Barnard is a writer, performer and presentation coach. He works with speakers, authors and entrepreneurs both one-on-one and in group settings. Jack is the author of We Get Our Cue From You: The Communion Approach to Public Speaking & Presentations and three CD’s: The Soul of Speaking, Mesmerize Your Audience and Storytelling.  See: http://speakerservices.com/products
Read more about how Jack can assist you http://www.speakerservices.com/about.html

Jack and Susan celebrating a birthday

VIDEO ZINGERS

Facilitated  by Jack Barnard

2012 Video Zingers:

Two videos with Tony Perez

 1. Overcoming Fear (2:09) sport shirt, in office

http://youtu.be/Y14OuJOxq8M

2. Family Wealth Transfer
http://youtu.be/F8ZKmYKvVNM

Rajah Sharma
3. American Dream/Nightmare

http://youtu.be/iiSJacuV5rQ

Fact Sheet

All programs are customized & offered one-on-one or in workshop format

Definition: One-camera presentation video, 30 seconds to 90 seconds in length, the purpose of which is to demonstrate the uniqueness, the agenda, the personality and the presence of the client — the video subject.

Video Video Video:

These days, everybody is aware of the power of video. If you’re connected to the internet (and do you know someone other than your great grandmother who isn’t connected to the internet?), chances are a) you receive half a dozen cyber-invitations a day to look at someone’s video product, b) you surf YouYube or one of its clones, c) you’re seeing more and more videos showing up on your favorite social-networking sites.

Format possibilities:

1) INTERVIEW: (As if) Answering questions during an interview

2) INTIMATE: Personable, straight ahead, into the camera, one-on-one, as if talking directly to the viewer

Some content possibilities:

1) Problem & Solution

2) Welcome to Website home page

3) Tip(s)

4) Secret (super-tip)

5) What you do

6) Website speaker page intro and orientation

7) Back story: why you’re so qualified, why you do what you do, how you got into it

Pertinent/Selling story

9) Current Insight

10) Ask the Expert

11) Show/Demonstrate/Sell Product

12) Explain System

13) Answer Frequently Asked Questions

14) Online Marketing Secret

15) Explain Seminar/Workshop/Webinar, etc.

16) Demonstrate Brand

17) Call to Action

Uses:

1) YouTube — Justin Bieber isn’t the only budding star discovered on YouTube…it happens everyday. Bottom line: we’re watching.

2) Social Media —  Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter…the more we see you, in all your glory, the greater the connection

3) Website — these zingers can be sprinkled all over your website

4) Marketing — for example: mp4s, as part of your delivery package

5) Blogs — spice them up, stand out

PLAN OF ACTION

Preparation Materials…One-day Workshop…Teleclass…Video Shoot

• Preparation Materials

Before participants gather for the workshop, they will receive a Pointers & Due Diligence packet from coach Jack so that when the group meets for the workshop, they will be already in motion.

• One-day 7-hour Workshop, January 28, 2012, led by Jack Barnard…focusing on:

1) Content: With this program, you can create 5 Video Zingers…what will you cover?

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

3) Presence: information is important, all the magic happens in the present moment. How do you do that looking straight into a camera?

4) Marketing: Susan Levin will enlighten the class on all the ways that these Video Zingers can utilized.

5) Practice video shoot: At the last part of the day, participants will be videotaped  — and then critiqued — trying out one of their Zingers. This is for practice & reflection only.

• Teleclass

90-minute follow-up to workshop — with Jack  — in the following week.

• Video Shoot…within 10 days of the workshop…staggered schedule…3 clients/day

1) One-on-One, with camera-person and coach Jack Barnard

2) 2 different backgrounds, change of clothes, change of venue (Interview format vs. Intimate format) so that it won’t feel like the videos were all done at the same time — or in the same way.

3) Shooting time: 2 hours. Each participant should be able to pull off 4-5 different Video Zingers in that time

4) Post-production is minimal and included in the VZ package.

5) Clients will receive finished/edited Video Zingers in a format of their choice

• Extra

1) As part of the VZ package, each client will be able to have succinct captions for 2 of their videos. If more than this is desired, there will be an extra post-production cost.

COST

$890 total…payments can be requested, if necessary

Contact:  susan@speakerservices.com, 310-822-4922 PT or jackp.barnard@verizon.net, 310-993-8762 to enroll.

___________

Coach/Video Director: The Video Zinger coach is Jack Barnard, a forty-year veteran of the media world. Jack is a former radio host, president of a six-station radio chain, concert producer, theatrical production company owner, master presentation coach, media trainer and writer. In this latest 15-year chapter, Jack works with speakers, authors and entrepreneurs, both one-on-one and in groups.

Marketing & Training Services since’92

http://www.speakerservices.com

November 3, 2011

CONTENT:

- Update from Susan Levin

- Tips and Advice from experts

- Teleclasses for November

- Tweets & Blog Posts

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

I am heading down to Orange County to teach Speak Your Way to More Clients on Monday, 11/7 for the third time with Ursula Mentjes. Carleen Paul, Skills for Success Reading Center shared.  Speak Your Way to More Clients was packed with tricks of the speaking trade!  Following the examples provided during the workshop will be vital to making my next speaking engagement a great success!  There is still time to register

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

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

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

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

To your speaking and marketing success,

Susan Levin

Speaker Services, susan@speakerservices.com

_________

TIPS and ADVICE



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



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

Ready? 

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

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

Sometimes smaller events do even better. 

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

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

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

______________

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

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

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

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

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


, www.bookmarket.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

______________

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

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

UPCOMING TELECLASSES

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

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

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

11/30/11 -  Amazon Bestsellers with Denise Cassino

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

All programs apply to both print books and ebooks!

- The steps and strategies of a bestseller campaign?

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

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

 Read/register

______________

Tweets and blog posts you might be interested in

:

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

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

- 


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

- 

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

- 

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

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

- 

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

Everyone knows that times have changed. This includes prospecting. They used to say, “It’s a numbers game.” Not any more…

Prospecting: It’s All in the Process…
By Wendy Weiss, The Queen of Cold Calling™

Most companies have processes in place for everything… except for prospecting. Managers tell representatives to “go make calls.” And if the representatives are not getting results, well then, make more calls.

Unfortunately in 2011 going into 2012 sheer volume of calls alone is simply not enough to successfully build a sales pipeline. In 2011 going into 2012 it’s imperative to have a process in place to develop and then manage the pipeline.

Here are the elements to have in place to ensure maximum results:

Definitions and parameters of what makes a qualified prospect. Too many representatives waste too much time calling inappropriate prospects.

How many times will a representative reach out to any individual prospect? Most representatives decide after the fact whether or not they’ll call any particular prospect again. They look at the lead and the history and decide, “I’ve called this one enough.” Deciding after the fact makes it impossible to have a good prospecting strategy.

Voice mail. Are representatives leaving messages? If so, how many and what is the frequency? What are they saying? Too many representatives make these decisions on the fly and so if they do leave messages, the messages are not powerful enough to entice the prospect to return a call.

Email. Is the representative going to approach the prospect via email? If so, how many emails will that representative send and what is the frequency? What do the emails say? Too many representatives make these decisions on the fly and so do not send powerful prospecting emails. Prospects then don’t respond, or if they do it’s a negative response.

Complete scripting for introductions, voice mail messages and templates for all emails. This is too important to leave to chance.

Metrics. Most companies measure revenue but not the activity that leads to revenue. For any prospecting campaign measurements must include, Dials, Conversations and Appointments (or Dials, Conversations and New Opportunities.) Software is the only way to track this. If you don’t have metrics you don’t actually know what works. If you’re a manager, you also don’t know what your team is doing.

In order to succeed in 2011 going into 2012… it’s all about the process.

Note: Prospect & Land Gigs Now  taught by Susan Levin & Jean-Noel Bassior (one-on-one or group sessions)

Success strategies for you and your staff. Identify target markets and decision makers. Learn how to leave voice messages that get call-backs.