Today's guest post is by Pam Terry, an experienced speaking coach.
Have you've been struggling with how to make money speaking? Or, perhaps you've tried different things and some of them just aren't working. The great thing about public speaking is that it encompasses a lot of ways to make money. Whether you work for a company or you are a professional public speaker, speaking to groups is one of the best ways to make sales. Plus, a career as a public speaker can provide a tremendous number of ways to make money. I find that speaking to groups can be a lot of fun. It's rewarding to make a difference in people's lives with your expertise. Some methods for making money speaking are easier than others and depend on different factors. Here are three ways you can make money:
Speaking for Free
Speaking for free can make you money. This is a pretty easy way to get bookings and can be lucrative depending on the type of speaker that you are. It requires that you be a decent enough speaker who has really great content where people walk away with their lives changed even in the smallest way. You have every opportunity to offer your services and/or products, such as CD's, home study courses, coaching programs, services, etc. Just make sure that you are able to articulate a problem that people have – that you solve. This approach works for anyone in business whether you're a plumber or a professor. Speaking for free is a great way to get known.
Hold Your Own Workshops, Webinars and/or Teleclasses
You can start a speaking career by holding your own events live, online or on the phone with workshops, webinars or teleclasses or all three. This is a great way to test the market and each can be really low or no cost. There are many locations available for free to hold a workshop and you can host webinars and teleclasses for free also. You can also spend a lot of money on your location or online webinar, but you don't have to. That's the beauty of it. However, you need to know what you're doing or at least depend on someone who does. I started my speaker business by doing my own workshops, webinars and teleclasses and it helped me to get known pretty quickly (and to get hired) especially with the help of Facebook and LinkedIn.
Get Hired to Speak
The market for getting hired to speak has changed greatly over time, but it still exists. Associations, companies, churches, and other groups do have budgets and hire speakers. It's competitive, so you need to know how to get in front of the right people and how to appear credible and appealing. That's why it's important to start speaking whether it's for free or you are doing your own workshops, webinars and teleseminars and blogging and posting to groups on Facebook and LinkedIn (especially LinkedIn for corporations). You have to create a name for yourself (marketing people call it branding). You should have a twitter account and use it. Twitter is actual a “micro blog.” You are making comments – so make them valuable and interesting to people – don't always be pitching something to sell. Getting hired to speak involves how the group perceives you. That’s why it’s so important to make a name for yourself.
I'll cover these and other ways to make money from speaking in detail, including Speakers Bureaus, training companies, and sponsorships in my Virtual Day Event, “How to Profit from Speaking,” on November 6. The Virtual Day event is a series of three 1-hour webinars with assignments in between them for you to start implementing what you are learning. At the end of the event, you will have a success plan for your speaker business and career to accelerate your profits.
Setting fees and negotiating, how to determine and approach your market, and much more will be included along with downloadable checklists, templates, and handouts.
I hope you'll join me. If you sign up by October 30th, you’ll save $50. Click www.pamterry.com/how-to-profit-from-speaking.html for details and to register.
