I’m not sure if there are really more “professional” speakers, but there are definitely more people who call themselves speakers. And what that does is create a very crowded, noisy marketplace… so while you have more opportunities than ever to promote yourself as a speaker, you also have to be more diligent than ever to position yourself as a true pro so you can cut through the clutter and stand out from the crowd.

Here are some quick and simple–yet critical–tips to help you do just that in 2017:

1. Get clear on who you want to help, and how you can help them.

Let’s say you speak about leadership. So you’re a “leadership speaker.”

Good. That’s one of the most in-demand topics. It’s also one of the most crowded topics. To set yourself apart, you need to identify 1-3 target markets that you’re going to go after–so you can really focus your message and your marketing efforts on them. Then you need to get very clear on how you help them.

So instead of just being a “leadership speaker,” you can say, “I am a leadership speaker who helps [target audience] do [specific thing you help them do better] so they can [ultimate objective they can accomplish by doing that thing better].”

Having that kind of clarity is a sign of mastery. And, how do you think that will sound to a member of your target audience who is looking to achieve that ultimate objective you speak of?

2. Have absolute confidence in the fee you’re asking for.

Lots of speakers come to me because they want to start getting paid more per event (or, they just want to start getting paid, period). The problem is, many of them don’t really believe they’re worth a higher fee.

Let me ask you this: Are people better off after they’ve heard you than they were before? What is the bottom-line outcome they can expect after you speak? More sales? Higher productivity?

You may help them with morale… with customer service… with creativity… or with any number of other things. But what does it ultimately lead to? There must be a bottom line benefit. Look for it. Then you’ll be able to see how valuable your presentation really is to an organization. So then you can “own” that higher fee that you want to start quoting. Because if you don’t own it, good luck finding a client to pay it.

3. Create compelling marketing materials that communicate who you help, how you help them, and why it’s tremendously valuable.

One of the big mistakes I see speakers make with their marketing materials is making them all about “me.”

Look how amazing I am… Check out these credentials… Look who endorsed me… 

There is a place for all that, but before a prospective client wants to know about you, they want to know how you can help them. Here are some key questions they’re asking:

How are you relevant to my audience?

Why are you a credible authority to speak on your topic?

Is your material current?

Can I expect your presentation to provide a spark that generates results (lasting change, not just 45 minutes of “feel good”)?

If you win them over with your answers to those questions, then they want to know:

What makes you one-of-a-kind?

It’s like the Jerry Garcia quote (paraphrased): “Don’t be the best at what you do. Be seen as the only one who does what you do.” (Just make sure the client first understands why what you do matters to them!)

When you’re creating your marketing materials, always be examining them through the lens of, “How are we going to be better off?” (Thinking from the client’s perspective.)

While every client wants an amazing speaker, what they really want is a speaker who will make them (the meeting planner, and the organization) amazing.

4. Connect with the right prospects, consistently.

You can complete steps 1-3 and still come to the end of 2017 no better off than you are right now.

Once you know who can help and how you can help them, once you know what you deserve to be paid, and once you have the marketing materials to back it all up, you’ve still gotta get out there and connect with prospective clients. When you’re just starting out, you can’t sit around waiting for leads to come to you.

Have you ever seen Zig Ziglar do his classic bit, where he’s pumping that old water well on stage? He’s pumping that handle and pumping that handle… faster and faster… and he’s getting more excited and more passionate as he goes. But no water is coming out.

He keeps pumping. Faster and faster. It looks like it’s not going to work. But then, finally, amazingly… WATER!!!

If he would have stopped when he got tired, or when he decided it would have been easier to just go get a bottle of Coke, he would have never created that steady flow of water. It’s not so different prospecting for clients.

Let’s say I could show you the exact keywords to find at least 5 prospects an hour using Google. These are customized keywords to help you find associations that are very likely to have a budget, and looking for a speaker like you. If you spend 5 hours a week going after prospects, and reaching out to those you find (using a simple “conversation starter” email template), you can reach 25 prospects a week. Do that for four weeks and you’ve got 100 prospects. Do that for 12 months and you’ve got 1200 prospects.

How many of those 1200 do you need to say yes, at the fee you want to earn, to hit your goals for 2017?

Sounds pretty easy, doesn’t it? I’m not going to say it’s easy. And like everything in life, nothing is guaranteed. But is it rocket science? No. So why doesn’t everyone do it? Because not everyone has that level of commitment. What about you?

Lots of people want to have a successful speaking business, but only a few take the kind of strategic, consistent action that generates real results. And those who do, those are the ones who succeed. Those are the ones you see today who are earning $10,000-15,000 or more per speech, who are doing 30 or 50 or 75 dates a year. It’s easy to want what they have now, but are you willing to start where they started? Are you willing to take action? CONSISTENTLY? Not just for a few weeks, but for an entire year. If you do that, what might happen?

So here we are, standing on the cliff looking at a new year of opportunity and possibility. Is this the year you finally “do this thing” and start building the speaking business you’ve been thinking about? What are you going to do differently in the new year?

All it takes is a decision. And the only one who can make that decision is you.

I’m rooting for you. Go out there and rock this thing in 2017, okay?!

If you need some help, I’m here for you.

While most people are still talking about the Super Bowl this morning–it was awesome!!–I keep thinking about the Republican Presidential Debate. (Yes, that probably says something about me.)

Two things in particular struck me.

First, this was hilarious:

And second, as someone who has worked with professional public speakers for almost 17 years now, I’m amused that one of the biggest attacks on Marco Rubio was based on how he repeatedly delivers the same 25- and 30-second memorized speeches on the campaign trail.

Now, whether that qualifies or disqualifies him from being President of the United States, I’ll leave you and others to decide. This is not a political blog. This is not a political blog post. (So, no need to “light up” the comments section with political comments, because they’ll be deleted.)

What we are here to talk about is effective communication for professional speakers, because this little story sets up a very important lesson if you want to succeed speaking:

Once you find your “signature” message, it may very well get old to you (and to your critics)… but it’s exactly what your audience wants to hear… so keep sharing it.

I just had a conversation about this with a very successful speaker a few days ago.

Early in his career, he was getting heckled by some friends because he always did the same material. To appease them, he eventually changed up his program and brought in some “fresh” content.

After the first event where he debuted this new material, the guy who hired him asked, “How do you think that went tonight?”

“I think it went pretty good,” the speaker said.

“You’re right,” his client responded. “It went pretty good… but I’m not paying you to be ‘pretty good.’ I’m paying you to be great. This audience deserves to hear your best material.”

Point taken.

Always remember, once you start to become known for your message, people are going to want to hear your message! Funny how that works, huh?

Think about it this way: If you’re an Eagles fan who loves “Hotel California” and their other hits, what songs do you want to hear them play when you go see them in concert? Not “some stuff we were playing around with the other night,” right? No. Play me the hits!

As a speaker, your “hits” are certain stories and even entire presentations–as people come to know them and love them and rave about them to others: “You need to hear this speaker!”

It’s not all about entertainment, though.

No, as a heart-centered speaker, I know that you care about truly helping people live better lives and/or build better businesses. Repetition of a simple message is important for this reason, too:

You want your audience to learn (remember) and implement what it is that you have to share.

Nick Morgan, author of Power Cues: The Subtle Science of Leading Groups, Persuading Others, and Maximizing Your Personal Impact, advised in one of his recent blog posts that, if you want audiences to remember what you say, “First of all, make sure that your speech is about only one idea. After all, it’s easier to remember one idea than many.”

Now to you, the speaker, that “one idea” is going to get very old after a while. You’re going to feel like, Yeah, I’ve shared that before. Now I feel like I really need to share [this new idea].

That’s because you’re a thought leader. Of course you have more to share.

Here’s the problem, though: This new idea may be “step four” in the process of learning what it is that you are teaching. You are on step four… but this audience you’re about to speak to? This audience that has never heard from you? They are on step one.

Give them step one–in your “signature” keynote, at least.

Once you get them on board with step one, then by all means, help them continue along the path. Give them a follow-up workshop. Give them a book. Give them a video course.

Going back to Marco Rubio, whether or not he’s qualified to be President of the United States, whether or not he’s “your candidate,” he does teach us a very valuable lesson about effective communication:

Know your message. Share your message. Again and again.

Periscope launched in March and by early August they had surpassed 10 million user accounts. I guess that’s what you call reaching “critical mass,” because that’s about the time I went from knowing about Periscope to not being able to get away from it.

There’s no denying that Periscope can be an amazing tool for speakers–you have a message to share, and now here’s another way to share it. (If you want some great advice on how to take advantage of it, Daniel Decker wrote a great post about that here.)

That’s not why I’m writing, though. I’m writing for those of you who may have felt something like I felt last Friday…

You see, I have a Periscope account myself, but I haven’t done a “Scope” (as Periscope sessions are called) yet. I’ve just been watching casually from the sidelines, trying to decide how–or if–I want to get involved. That’s been fun, but…

Last Friday, as I was watching some friends’ Scopes, I got that feeling. You know, that feeling that sometimes comes on when you look around and you see several of your friends or peers or competitors doing something that you’re not… 

You feel your muscles tighten. Maybe you break out into a light sweat. You start getting anxious.

And you think:

Uh oh, they’re getting ahead of me.

Uh oh, I’m getting left behind.

Oh man, I’m missing out.

Can you relate?

If so, then all together now, let’s take a deep breath. In… Out… Now another. And another.

These are just thoughts. You can let them go. Whew.

Yes, Periscope can be a great thing. So can YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and numerous other social media platforms.

But you don’t have to use them all. If you’re a solopreneur, you can’t use them all. (Not well, anyway.)

I think back to my conversation with Gretchen Rubin, #1 best-selling author of The Happiness Project, a few years ago, when she said:

“There’s this thought that ‘everybody does X, so I have to do X.’ No, just figure out what works for you. You don’t have to do it all… Just start with one thing…”

Us entrepreneurs can easily get caught up chasing every new thing that comes along:

Oh, I’ve gotta do that!

Oh, wait, here’s a new thing over here!

Oh, I need this!

My advice–before you get carried away on a new chase–is always to pause and think about your business objectives:

• What is it that you really want to do/achieve?
• Knowing that you have limited resources and you can’t do everything, what matters most in your business, right now?

Keep your focus on that, and then ask:

• What is the clearest path that will get me there?
• Is this new thing [Periscope] part of that path?

If you can’t accommodate Periscope right now, then I’m here to tell you: that’s okay. You have permission to pass on Periscope. And anything else that doesn’t serve you and your business at any given time.

After all, your business is your business.

On the other hand, if you are going to do Periscope, then be intentional about it. Have a plan. Sure, allow some freedom to experiment. But don’t just let it become an aimless time-suck because it seems like something you’re “supposed to do.”

Does this help?

I guess, in the end, what I want to say to you is… RELAX. Everything’s gonna be okay.

Thanks for reading, and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below–feel free to share your struggles with social media, your best advice for other speakers, your Periscope link for us to follow you… whatever’s on your mind!

P.S. Speaking of business objectives and having a plan: If your #1 priority right now is getting more paid speaking engagements, I’d love for you to join me on a free “JumpStart Your Speaking Business: How to Get Paid to Speak to Associations” webinar that’s coming soon. I’m putting the finishing touches on the program right now, so just click here and I’ll let you know when the date’s confirmed.

If you’re a speaker, or if you want to speak, you should write a book.

(You’ve probably heard that before.)

But if, having heard that, you still don’t have a book, it’s probably because:

1. You aren’t really that serious about this speaking thing, or
2. You don’t believe you really need a book, or
3. You hate writing, suck at writing, or just don’t have time for writing.

Since you’re reading this, I’m betting that it’s not reason #1.

It’s probably not #2. (But if it happens to be, you’ll soon have five good reasons to get published, pronto.)

I’m betting the reason you haven’t published a book yet is because of something in #3.

Believe me, I get it. I’ve been working on a book for the past two years. It’s a struggle.

Thankfully, I just discovered an awesome book, Book Launch: How to Write, Market & Publish Your First Bestseller in Three Months or Less AND Use it to Start and Grow a Six Figure Business, which is both motivational and practical… so now I know what I need to do!

If you need that kind of help, too, then… DON’T go buy this book!

No, sign up for the author’s FREE Self Publishing School video series and you’ll get a copy of the Book Launch ebook, too! (The videos are only up for a limited time, though, so you’ll want to jump right on it.)

Chandler Bolt is the guy behind it all, and he’s written five bestsellers and built a business that’s closing in on seven figures this year… so he’s clearly got a few things figured out!

Now, back to speaking…

You’ve heard that you need a book. But why?

Here are five reasons a book will be a tremendous help to your speaking business:

1. Credibility. Let’s face it, if the words, “Speaker and Author of…” follow your name, you’re automatically taken more seriously than another candidate who is just described as a “Speaker.”
2. Lead Generation. One of the hardest things for any speaker starting out is marketing — getting the word out about who you are and what you do. Guess what? A book does that for you! Chandler, the author of Book Launch and creator of the Self-Publishing School videos, said, “Prior to writing my first book, I had very little experience speaking or coaching, but within months of publishing my first book, I was getting paid to do both.”
3. Income. Who couldn’t use some extra money? In the “old days” (as recently as just a few years ago), you wouldn’t hear much about a book becoming a substantial revenue stream for an author. Now, though, you can sell a short book (30-60 pages) on Amazon for $2.99/ea. and potentially make thousands of dollars a month. In Book Launch, Chandler tells the story of one author who consistently makes $30-60k in passive income each month from his books. Chandler himself said, “Within a year of writing my first book, I built a 6-figure business off of one measly, little 54-page book.” In any case, you don’t want to set up your business where speaking is your ONLY revenue stream. Whether publishing a book generates enough income to make a car payment, a mortgage payment, or fund the kid’s college fund… it’s good.
4. Event-Driven Marketing Tool. A book has always been a great anchor for a speaker’s marketing campaign — it’s timely, it’s helpful (sharing your advice), and it affirms your credibility. In the past, though, you would probably only put out one book a year, or maybe one every 2-3 years. In the new world of publishing on Amazon, consider this: Since you can create a bestseller in 90 days or less, what if… you put out a new, short book a few times a year (for instance, maybe what would have been four sections of a “regular” book is now four installments in a series)? Now you have multiple reasons to reach out to prospective clients… offering them more value each time, and further demonstrating your expertise on your topic, and more importantly, your ability to solve their problems. (Sure beats sending postcards!)
5. Free Publicity. This is a classic reason for publishing a book — you can get coverage on TV and in magazines and newspapers that you would never get otherwise. And now, add in blogs and social media — there are all sorts of ways to leverage your book (and the content within) to get attention… which can drive speaking engagements and help your business in all the ways listed above.

So, what do you say? Is it time to get that book out there?!

Oh, by the way… did you notice that throughout this blog post I referred to publishing a book rather than publishing your book? That was intentional.

If I say your book, your mind might go to the idea of creating your great manifesto, or “the one” book you will become known for, throughout all the ages to come.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t create that book… but don’t feel like you can’t publish any book until you’re ready to publish that book. (Truth be told, you probably need to publish a few other books before that book is ready to come out, anyway!)

Chandler talks about this in his book and video series, and I’ve fallen into this trap myself. I think it happens to all of us who feel like we’ve got something really important to share.

You do… but do you want to start getting your message out there in a bigger way right now? Or do you want to wait in silence, for potentially a lifetime, to finally birth that masterpiece?

I say, get started today. If you need help, sign up for the Self-Publishing School videos and follow Chandler’s system. But one way or another, a book will be a tremendous help to your speaking business!

Any questions? Suggestions of other ways speakers can benefit from having books? Leave a comment below!

Josh Shipp is a young man who has done remarkable things. In this interview with Jaime Tardy, he shares — very candidly — some of his keys to success as a youth motivational speaker.

Want to learn more from Josh? He reveals how you can start building your own “empire of impact” as a youth speaker in his brand new (and FREE) Youth Speaker University video series!

NOTE: I am an affiliate of Josh’s training programs, so while this video series is free, I may be compensated if you choose to enroll in any of his paid programs. Josh is AWESOME and one of the few guys I recommend to my friends and followers. Still, you should obviously do your own due diligence before making a purchase.

Have you been thinking about writing a book — for years — but just can’t seem to make it happen? Are you writing a book right now and wondering how to get it published? Have you written a book that’s just not performing as well as you had hoped?

Here are nine things I learned from Rick Frishman and his expert guests at Author 101 University (affiliate link) in Las Vegas that I hope will serve you and help you get your message out to more people in the year ahead:

1. The question is not “Am I qualified to share this message?” but “Am I committed to sharing this message?” — Brendon Burchard, Author of The Charge
2. The average advance from a major publisher is $500. — David Hancock, founder of Morgan James Publishing
3. Up to one half of the titles on the non-fiction bestseller list were written by ghostwriters. — Vicki St. George, Owner of Just Write Literary
4. 5% of the author’s responsibility is writing the book. 95% of the author’s responsibility is marketing the book. — Peggy McColl, Author of Be A Dog With A Bone
5. Don’t get an ISBN number for your self-published book if you think you’d like to get published by a traditional publisher one day. If you get an ISBN number, publishers can see how many copies you’ve sold… and if your self-published book doesn’t sell, they’re going to ask, “Why would this book [that you’re pitching now] sell?” — Scott Hoffman, Founder of Folio Literary Management
6. Want to get on radio? Start fights. Example: If you’re promoting Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover’s Soul, use this hook: “Do people love their pets too much?” That will get callers, and radio stations want callers! — Alex Carroll, Author of Beat the Cops and Creator of The Publicity Vault
7. Do what you do with a spirit of giving. — Wendy Lipton-Dibner, Founder of Move People To Action
8. Think >> Do >> Now = Success. Think >> Do >> Now >> Persist = Long-term success — Dr. Joan Rosenberg, Creator of Emotional Pilates
9. Always have your book with you. — Rick Frishman, Publisher at Morgan James Publishing, Founder of Planned Television Arts (now called Media Connect), creator of Author 101 University

If you like these tips, then I encourage you to consider attending Author 101 University for yourself. (These are just nine tips out of a total of 32 PAGES of notes that I took while at the event!)

The next event is October 24-27 in Las Vegas, and if you register now, you can bring a friend free!

Rick is one of the classiest guys in the business and backs up his event with this guarantee: If you feel that you haven’t received value worth many times your registration fee, just ask him for a full refund after the first day.

ADDED BONUS: If you register for Author 101 University through my affiliate link, I’ll personally create a promotional mini-site for your book. (See an example here.) This is an important tool in any publishing campaign, and many firms charge $2500 or more to create such a site. It’s a great way to build your list and sell your book.

(If you’d like one of these pages for your book without attending Author 101 University, then just send me a message through the contact form and we can discuss your project.)