Why would anyone listen
to me?
You have life and business experience that other people want and need. It never
ceases to amaze me about how some of the simple information I know because I use
it all the time is unknown to many other people. If you package yourself
properly you can get high fees for teaching this information.
I didn't do that well in school. Don't you have to be some kind of Ph.D to
do this?
ABSOLUTELY NOT!!! Some of the most powerful speakers I know never even graduated
high school. Being a learned scholar and being able to move people to action are
two entirely different things. I know a guy who barely made it through high
school that gets $1000.00 per seat for one of his sales seminars.
Who would hire me?
Most of the work is in corporations and associations, but churches, schools and
all kinds of non-profit organizations hire speakers and trainers. You can even
do your own public seminars.
How much should I charge?
Most people can break in at $1,500.00-2,500.00 per speech or seminar. If you
have some decent business credentials or your life experience is particularly
inspirational, you can break in much higher once you learn to package yourself
properly.
How much money can I make?
Your income from this business is not just from speaking. By recording your
information, making workbooks and books (including Electronic books that cost
you nothing to create) you can double or triple your speaking income. I've made
as much as $18,000.00 in passive product sales in about 10 days and did one
speaking engagement for a total of $24,500.00 in that period. You can earn as
much or as little as you want depending on your willingness to promote
yourself.
Can I do this part time?
Yes. Many people keep their regular job and do association speeches on the
weekends (many times in resort locations) and public seminars in the evenings.
If a great job comes in during the week, they take a leave day to do it. Many
people work out a flex schedule with their place of employment to allow time for
their speech and seminar work.
I'm a little nervous about public speaking. How can I overcome this?
Just about everyone is. In fact, it's the most common fear. A big part of this
fear comes from the fact that most people only have to speak once or twice a
year. They don't know how to prepare and they don't know all the tricks the pros
use to warm up the audience (I do it before I even get in the state where I'm
speaking). They also don't know all the techniques professionals use to create a
home run presentations every time. All these things can be learned. When you are
really prepared the nervousness is reduced immensely and disappear altogether
within a few minutes after you start.
What promotional materials do I need?
You will need some program descriptions which tell the meeting organizer what
the attendees will learn from listening to your program. Some bigger events will
require a professional video tape of you speaking to a group. You can get a tape
free by bartering a presentation for an organization that has quality video
taping capabilities.
Lots of public speakers sell products at the back of the room. How do I
develop products to sell?
There are many low cost / no cost ways to develop products. You can have your
presentation video or audio taped. Usually with very little editing you can have
a product to sell at the next event. Now, with cheap color copies available you
can literally create and package your products one at a time and still make a
hefty profit on each one. I make products at home with a simple tape recorder.
The spoken voice is the easiest thing to record. For most educational products
you don't need any fancy music so for virtually no cost you can create high
profit audio tapes. I do a brisk business this way.
How do I advertise my public speaking services?
Most savvy speakers find ways to get the clients to call them. I don't pay for
any advertising. I use a media marketing strategy where the clients hear me on
the radio, see me on TV or read articles either written by me or about me. This
is a very easy strategy to implement. It's no problem to get websites and
corporate and association newsletters to print what you write. Radio interviews
are really easy to do (you do them by phone from your house) Qualified clients
see or hear about you and they call for information.
